China executes 11 people linked to Myanmar scam gangs

China on Thursday executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” involved in scam operations, state media Xinhua reported. Xinhua said the 11 had been sentenced to death in September by a court in the eastern city of Wenzhou, and that the court also carried out the executions.

The report said the crimes of the executed included “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and casino establishment.” The death sentences had been approved by the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, which Xinhua said found the evidence of crimes committed since 2015 to be “conclusive and sufficient.” Among those executed were members of the “Ming family criminal group,” whose activities had contributed to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to “many others.” Xinhua added that “the criminals’ close relatives were allowed to meet with them before the execution.” The report noted that scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar’s borderlands as part of a multibillion-dollar illicit industry, and are often staffed by foreigners, including many Chinese, some of whom say they were trafficked and forced to swindle people online.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates the industry is worth $40bn annually, and the UN warned in April that Chinese and southeast Asian gangs are raking in tens of billions of dollars a year through cyber scam centres.

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