A court in eastern China has handed down death sentences to three members of a criminal syndicate responsible for operating scam centers in Myanmar, marking a significant escalation in Beijing’s crackdown on cross-border cybercrime networks.
On Tuesday, the Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Fujian province announced that Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei, and Liao Jingfang were convicted as part of the “Wei family criminal gang.” The court found the group guilty of a broad range of offenses, including telecommunications fraud, drug trafficking, illegal casino operations, organized prostitution, and the murder of at least two Chinese nationals.
Wei was identified as one of the gang’s principal leaders and was specifically convicted of murder. In addition to the three death sentences, three other individuals received life imprisonment, while 55 more gang members were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years and three months to 24 years.
According to the court, the syndicate generated more than $1.8 billion in illicit profits. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that the gang operated 14 large-scale compounds in Myanmar, luring thousands of Chinese nationals with promises of lucrative employment before forcing them into scam operations.
The verdict underscores China’s intensified efforts to dismantle criminal networks operating across Southeast Asia, where online fraud has become a massive industry. In July, the International Organization for Migration estimated that scam centers in the region employ up to 300,000 workers, many of whom are trafficked foreigners subjected to prison-like conditions and forced to defraud victims, particularly elderly individuals in Western countries.
This case follows a broader wave of enforcement actions by Chinese authorities. Earlier this year, state media reported that 11 individuals linked to Myanmar scam operations were executed, and rights groups have documented that thousands of people remain detained in these facilities.
Thirty thousand forced workers is a staggering number. Does anyone in Western media cover this consistently, or only when executions happen?
Will this actually stop the scams? I worry enforcement just pushes these networks deeper underground where they are harder to track.
Death penalty fits crimes like murder and trafficking. Hard to argue otherwise given the scale of suffering caused.
$1.8 billion? These operations are massive. The human cost described in the article is truly horrifying.