Myanmar’s regime said it detained 81 people and five security guards during a three-day crackdown on online gambling and scam businesses in Mongyai Township, northern Shan State.
On Wednesday, the junta said a firefight broke out with armed guards during a raid on an online scam center in the southeast of the township. It said two guards were killed and five others detained.
The regime said eight Chinese nationals and seven people from Myanmar were detained in relation to online scams and around 180 mobile phones, 25 laptops and two StarLink internet devices were seized.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
The junta claimed 66 more people, including 21 Chinese nationals and 18 Vietnamese citizens, were detained on Thursday and Friday in Mongyai.
The regime said it would prosecute those involved in online scams and transfer detained foreigners to their home countries.
On Wednesday, Thailand cut electricity, internet services and fuel supplies to five border areas in Myanmar, including territory controlled by the junta-allied Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) in Myawaddy Township, Karen State, saying the scams threatened Thai national security.
Since the 2021 coup, the scam centers have mushroomed, with many relocating to Myawaddy after being displaced by the anti-regime Operation 1027 in northern Shan State last year.
Thailand’s action targeted the Shwe Koko “new city” project, which is run by junta ally Colonel Saw Chit Thu, the commander of BGF, in a joint venture with Yatai International, which is owned by She Zhijiang, a Chinese national with Cambodian citizenship who is wanted by China.
In May last year, the Justice for Myanmar activist group revealed the involvement of the BGF in online scams, illegal casinos and online gambling in Karen State.
Saw Chit Thu and Myanmar’s regime recently announced that they were cracking down on scam operations in cooperation with international organizations.
The regime and BGF this week transferred 61 victims of trafficking from seven countries who were forced to work at the online scam centers to the Thai authorities.
