China Executes 11 Members Of Myanmar-Based Scam Syndicate

China has executed 11 members of the Ming family, a powerful mafia clan accused of running large-scale online scam operations from neighbouring Myanmar, according to state media.

The executions followed sentences handed down in September by a court in China’s Zhejiang province, where the family members were convicted of crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating illegal gambling operations. 

The Ming family was one of several influential clans that once dominated Laukkaing, a border town in Myanmar’s Shan State, transforming it from a poor settlement into a centre for casinos, red-light districts and extensive online fraud schemes.

Their criminal network collapsed in 2023 after ethnic militias seized Laukkaing during intensified clashes with Myanmar’s military. Members of the Ming family were later detained by the militias and handed over to Chinese authorities.

By carrying out the executions, Beijing appears to be sending a strong warning to organised scam networks that have targeted Chinese citizens for years. Analysts, however, note that such operations have since relocated to other parts of Southeast Asia, including areas along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, as well as Cambodia and Laos, where China’s influence is weaker.

The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked across the region and forced to work in online scam centres. Thousands of Chinese nationals are believed to have been among those coerced into running fraud schemes that have cost Chinese victims billions of dollars.

China’s frustration with Myanmar’s military often accused of tolerating or profiting from the scam industry has intensified in recent years. In late 2023, Beijing quietly backed an offensive by an ethnic insurgent alliance in Shan State, which seized large areas from the military and overran Laukkaing, a major base for scam operations.

The executed Ming family members are believed to be the first Myanmar-based scam leaders to receive the death penalty in China. Authorities have indicated more cases are forthcoming. In November, five members of the Bai family were also sentenced to death, while trials involving members of the Wei and Liu families are still underway.

The Ming family’s trial was held behind closed doors, though more than 160 people, including relatives of victims, attended the sentencing hearing last year. China’s top court said the family’s scam and gambling activities generated more than 10 billion yuan (£1 billion) between 2015 and 2023 and were linked to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens, with many others injured.

More than 20 additional members of the Ming family received prison terms ranging from five years to life. The clan’s patriarch, Ming Xuechang, reportedly died by suicide in 2023 while trying to evade capture, according to Myanmar’s military.

Chinese state media have aired televised confessions from suspects in documentaries, highlighting the government’s determination to dismantle cross-border scam networks.

The Ming family rose to prominence in the early 2000s after Laukkaing’s former warlord was ousted in a military operation led by Min Aung Hlaing, who later became Myanmar’s military ruler following the 2021 coup. 

Initially focused on gambling and prostitution, the family later expanded into online fraud, operating heavily guarded compounds where trafficked workers were forced to carry out scams under brutal conditions.

China’s actions underscore its growing resolve to confront the regional scam industry, even as these criminal networks continue to adapt and relocate beyond its immediate reach.