The Bangkok Post reported on the 16th that the Karen Border Guard of Myanmar issued an ultimatum to gangs engaged in online fraud or other illegal industries in the controlled area, requiring them to leave by the end of this month.
At the same time, the Thai government has stepped up its crackdown on fuel smuggling to Myanmar, as criminal gangs operating in Myanmar are trying to bypass Thailand’s ban on electricity, gasoline and diesel supplies to Myanmar.
Myanmar arrests 29 people involved in gambling and fraud
Yangon News: The News and Information Group of the Myanmar State Administration Council announced on the night of the 14th that the country has arrested 29 suspects suspected of illegal online gambling and financial fraud.
According to reports, Myanmar authorities arrested 29 suspects suspected of illegal online gambling and financial fraud in Tachileik Township, Shan State in the east of the country on the 12th and 13th, and seized a large number of computers, mobile phones, vehicles and other tools for committing crimes.
According to reports, the arrested persons include 7 Thais and 22 Burmese. After entering Myanmar for work and travel, the arrested Thais were recruited by people engaged in illegal online gambling and financial fraud to participate in criminal activities. Relevant departments have prosecuted the suspects in accordance with the law.
According to a previous report by the Bangkok Post, in order to combat transnational online telecommunications fraud, the Thai government has cut off power supply and Internet services at five locations on the border between Thailand and Myanmar since the 5th, and stopped fuel supply to limit the operating capacity of the fraud park.
According to Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao, Myanmar handed over 261 people rescued from the fraud park to Thailand on the 12th, and the Thai military escorted them to Thailand. The Thai government said that it is expected that thousands more rescued people will be sent to Thailand, and the Thai side will contact the embassies of various countries in Thailand to arrange their return.
China and Myanmar exchanged views on jointly combating online gambling and fraud crimes
According to the WeChat public account of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on the 16th, on February 14, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Ma Jia and the visiting Assistant Minister of Public Security Liu Zhongyi held talks with Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dan Sui and Minister of Interior Tun Tun Nam, respectively, and exchanged in-depth views on further strengthening China-Myanmar law enforcement and security cooperation and jointly combating cross-border crimes such as telecommunications network fraud and human trafficking.
China positively evaluated Myanmar’s determination and efforts to protect the safety of Chinese citizens, and stated that online gambling and fraud crimes seriously infringe on the safety of people’s lives and property. China is willing to actively carry out bilateral and multilateral cooperation with neighboring countries such as Myanmar and Thailand, adopt comprehensive measures, treat both the symptoms and the root causes, and work together to block criminals from roaming around in relevant countries, jointly eradicate the “cancer” of online gambling and fraud, and maintain the normal order of exchanges and cooperation among regional countries.
The Myanmar side introduced the specific measures taken by the Myanmar government recently to combat online gambling and online fraud, and stated that Myanmar attaches great importance to and severely cracks down on illegal and criminal activities such as online gambling and online fraud. It will strengthen coordination with China and other relevant neighboring countries, promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and explore the establishment of a normalized cooperation mechanism to jointly combat cross-border crimes such as online gambling and online fraud.