Among those executed were members of the ‘Ming Family Criminal Group’, whose activities had killed 14 Chinese citizens and injured ‘several others’, Xinhua reported.
China has sentenced 11 people linked to online scam centers in Myanmar to death, according to state media, as Beijing cracks down on illegal operations.
Those executed on Thursday were sentenced to death in September by a court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, Xinhua said.
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The crimes of those executed included “intentional murder, intentional injury, illegal possession, fraud and casino establishment,” Xinhua added.
Fraudulent compounds in which scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have mushroomed in Southeast Asia, along the border with Myanmar.
Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded to operate in multiple languages to steal and defraud victims around the world.
Those who commit scams are sometimes willing fraud artists and other times Smuggling forced foreign nationals to work.
In recent years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar to crack down on compounds, and thousands have been sent back to face trial.
The death sentences for the 11 people were upheld by the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, which found that evidence of crimes committed since 2015 was “conclusive and sufficient,” Xinhua reported.
Among those executed were members of the “Ming Family Criminal Group”, whose activities had killed 14 Chinese citizens and injured “several others”.
Fraudulent operations centered in Myanmar’s border areas have siphoned off billions of dollars from around the world through phone and internet scams.
Experts say most of the centers are run by Chinese-led crime syndicates and work with Myanmar militias, which are taking advantage of the country’s instability and ongoing war.
Myanmar’s military government has long been accused of turning a blind eye to the centre, but experts say it has stepped up its efforts since February after lobbying from China, a key military backer.
Some of its raids are part of a propaganda effort, many monitors say, choreographed to pressure Beijing without spoiling the gains that have enriched the military government’s militia allies.
In October, the military arrested more than 2,000 people in a raid on the notorious KK Park, a center of corruption on the border with Thailand.
Five other people were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in the September rulings that resulted in Thursday’s execution.
Another 23 suspects have been sentenced to terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
In November, Chinese authorities sentenced five people to death for their involvement in racketeering activities in Myanmar’s Kokang region.
Their crimes resulted in the deaths of six Chinese nationals, according to state media reports.
The United Nations estimates that as many as 120,000 people may be working in online scam centers in Myanmar.
Another 100,000 may be trapped in Cambodia, with thousands more trapped in similar facilities in Southeast Asia, according to the UN.
Online scam operations have increased in Cambodia since the Covid-19 pandemic, when a global shutdown forced many of the country’s Chinese-owned casinos and hotels to turn to illegal operations.
Operating out of industrial-scale scam centers, thousands of workers perpetrate online romance scams “pig killing”A hugely lucrative industry responsible for billions of dollars in theft each year targets people in the West.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned in April that the cyber scam industry is spreading around the world, including in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and many Pacific islands.
In October, the United States and the United Kingdom Widespread restrictions were announced Against the Cambodia-based Prince Group network for operating a chain of “fraud centers” in Cambodia, Myanmar and across the region.