Chinese authorities have carried out the execution of 11 members of a powerful criminal family linked to large-scale online scam operations operating along Myanmar’s northeastern border.
The individuals belonged to the Ming family, a clan long accused of running fraud networks, illegal gambling hubs, and detention centres that targeted victims across China and Southeast Asia.
Okay News reports that the executions followed death sentences handed down in September 2025 by a court in Zhejiang Province.
The convicts were found guilty of multiple serious offences, including homicide, large-scale fraud, illegal detention, and the operation of gambling and scam facilities. China’s top court later rejected their appeals, clearing the way for the sentences to be enforced.
The Ming family was once among several influential clans that effectively controlled Laukkaing, a border town in Myanmar’s Shan State. Over the years, the town was transformed from a remote settlement into a bustling centre for casinos, red-light districts, and cyber scam operations. Authorities say the family’s criminal empire generated more than 10 billion yuan between 2015 and 2023.
Their downfall began in late 2023, when ethnic armed groups fighting Myanmar’s military seized Laukkaing during a major offensive. The militias subsequently handed over key figures linked to scam operations to Chinese authorities, amid growing pressure from Beijing over the cross-border fraud industry.
Investigators revealed that the Ming syndicate relied heavily on trafficked labour, with thousands of people forced to run online scams under violent conditions. Survivors have described routine beatings, torture, and harsh confinement inside heavily guarded compounds, where workers were compelled to defraud victims—most of whom were Chinese nationals—of billions of dollars.
The executions mark the first time China has carried out death sentences against leaders of Myanmar-based scam networks, but officials have indicated that more cases are pending. Several members of other influential families connected to similar operations have already received death sentences, while additional trials are still underway.
Observers say Beijing is using the executions as a strong warning to organised crime groups operating across Southeast Asia. However, despite the crackdown, analysts note that scam networks have increasingly shifted their bases to other regions, including areas near Thailand as well as parts of Cambodia and Laos, where China’s direct influence is more limited.
