China brings home 1,178 telecom fraud suspects from Myanmar

Chinese police have escorted 1,178 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud in Myanmar's Myawaddy area back to China via Thailand, the Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.

Since the launch of a joint China-Myanmar-Thailand operation on Feb 20 to repatriate telecom fraud suspects from Myawaddy, more than 6,600 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in such crimes have been returned, delivering what authorities described as a powerful deterrent to transnational fraud syndicates.

The ministry said the operation marks another key outcome of the ministerial meeting on combating telecom and online fraud, which was attended by officials from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The six-nation meeting was held on Nov 14. Following the gathering, the countries acted on the consensus reached, deepened law enforcement cooperation, launched coordinated crackdowns, targeted fraud compounds and stepped up efforts to arrest suspects.

In response to what authorities called a severe telecom fraud situation targeting Chinese citizens in Myawaddy, police from China, Myanmar and Thailand carried out another joint crackdown. Myanmar authorities conducted sweeping raids on fraud compounds and detained a number of suspects.

Starting Dec 1, the Ministry of Public Security sent police officers from Jiangxi province to Mae Sot, Thailand, to conduct repatriation missions. With support from Thai authorities, the 1,178 suspects repatriated by Myanmar were escorted back to China in groups. Jiangxi police have also launched parallel investigations into related cases as instructed.

A ministry official said multi-country joint operations against transnational telecom fraud remain underway and that Chinese authorities will continue strengthening enforcement, deepening international cooperation, dismantling criminal hubs and pursuing all suspects involved.