China executes 11 members of mafia family that ran Myanmar scam centres

The Ming family for years exerted near-total control over Laukkaing, a town in northern Myanmar’s Shan State

China has executed 11 members of a powerful mafia family that once dominated cyber-scam operations along the China-Myanmar border, according to state media reports.

The individuals belonged to the Ming family, a clan that for years exerted near-total control over Laukkaing, a town in northern Myanmar’s Shan State. The area, previously impoverished and isolated, was reshaped under their influence into a thriving enclave of casinos, online fraud hubs and brothels catering largely to foreign clientele.

The executions follow a ruling by a court in Zhejiang province, which handed down death sentences last September for offences including murder, fraud, illegal detention and the operation of large-scale gambling enterprises.

China’s top court later rejected the group’s appeals in November, clearing the way for the sentences to be carried out.

The state-owned media Xinhua reported that the crimes of the executed included “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and casino establishment”.

The outlet reported that China’s Supreme People’s Court authorised the executions after determining that evidence of offences dating back to 2015 was “conclusive and sufficient”.

The Ming family’s downfall was tied closely to the escalation of Myanmar’s civil war. In 2023, ethnic armed groups seized control of Laukkaing from junta-aligned forces. During the takeover, members of the Ming network were detained by militias and subsequently transferred to Chinese authorities.

Last year, China’s ministry of public security said that in 2025 alone, more than 7,600 Chinese citizens suspected of involvement in online gambling and telecom scams were returned from Myawaddy, a southeastern Myanmar town near the Thai border.

For years, scam compounds in Myanmar have been linked to the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of people, many of them Chinese nationals.

Recently, China has intensified coordination with Southeast Asian governments to dismantle scam compounds, leading to the return of thousands of Chinese nationals.

Victims were lured with promises of legitimate employment, only to be held captive and forced to carry out online fraud targeting people abroad. Chinese authorities have repeatedly raised concerns over the scale of these operations, pressing Myanmar’s military government to intervene.

Public anger inside China intensified last year after reports circulated online about a Chinese actor who travelled to Thailand for what he believed was an acting job, but was instead smuggled into a scam compound in Myanmar. Last year, it was reported that a 22-year-old Chinese actor who had gone missing near the Thailand-Myanmar border said he was a victim of human trafficking after being rescued from an area where online scam networks operate.

Wang Xing’s family had requested help from the Chinese embassy in Thailand after the actor went missing in northern Thailand’s Tak province bordering Myanmar. Thai authorities found him in Myanmar and brought him back for questioning, police said at the time.

Meanwhile, Xinhua reported on Thursday that “the criminals’ close relatives were allowed to meet with them before the execution”.

According to China’s judiciary, the Ming family’s businesses generated more than 10bn yuan (£1bn) between 2015 and 2023. The court said their activities were linked to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to many others.

Earlier this month, Cambodian authorities extradited businessman Chen Zhi to China. The United States has alleged that Chen heads a corporate group used as a cover for a cyber fraud operation generating billions of dollars.