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Myanmar’s military has arrested 346 people during a raid on a scam center in the Shwe Kokko area along the country’s border with Thailand, the Ministry of Information stated Wednesday.
Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun said all the detainees are foreign nationals. Authorities also seized nearly 10,000 mobile phones allegedly used in online gambling schemes. Shwe Kokko has become notorious for “pig butchering” cyber-scams run from prison-like call centers and retrofitted casinos.
Zaw Min Tun said roughly 99.5 percent of foreign nationals involved in online scams in Myanmar entered the country through Thailand.
Separately, the ministry said 317 foreign nationals suspected of cyber crimes—including 269 Indians and 31 Laotians—have been repatriated to their home countries. According to the statement, the individuals had entered Myanmar illegally and were allegedly involved in online gambling and scams.
Myanmar has been stepping up its crackdown on scam centers near the Thai border. In October, the military arrested more than 2,000 people at KK Park, a cyberscam compound allegedly used by international criminal syndicates for money laundering, online fraud, and romance and investment scams. Authorities also seized dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals during that operation.
Pressure on the scam-centers' operations is also increasing from the United States. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a Myanmar rebel group and several associates for running cyber-scam compounds that target Americans and exploit trafficked laborers.
The Treasury Department said the sanctioned actors are linked to compounds in Myanmar’s Karen State—including Tai Chang, Huanya, and KK Park—where victims are beaten, tortured, and forced to defraud Americans online. U.S. officials estimate Americans lost at least $10 billion to Southeast Asia-based scams in 2024, a 66 percent increase from 2023.
Zaw Min Tun addressed the U.S. designation, which noted the operations of a U.S.-formed special task force targeting scam syndicates in Myanmar, suggesting that rather than focusing solely on online fraud and gambling, the U.S. “may have a deeper hidden agenda behind these actions.”
The ruling junta itself has faced accusations of facilitating cyber scam operations. In May, the U.S. Treasury designated the Karen National Army as a “transnational criminal organization” and sanctioned three of its leaders. A 2024 Deutsche Welle investigation found that troops of the Karen Border Guard Force were providing security at KK Park.
