Myanmar gang faces trial for trafficking

Seventeen members of a cross-border human trafficking group operating in Myanmar's Myawaddy area and targeting Chinese citizens have been prosecuted in Shanghai, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Shanghai people's procuratorate's second branch said it recently filed charges against the 17 suspects with the Shanghai No 2 Intermediate People's Court for offenses including trafficking in women, illegal detention, robbery and kidnapping.

According to a statement issued by the branch, the group lured Chinese citizens abroad with promises of overseas jobs and, with the help of local armed personnel, forcibly transported them to Myawaddy, where they were sold to telecom fraud compounds.

Many victims were allegedly robbed, beaten and illegally detained. Some female victims were raped and forced into prostitution before being sold to telecom fraud compounds and compelled to engage in scam operations, the statement said.

Police investigations later uncovered a criminal group based in Myawaddy that specialized in cross-border human trafficking.

Since December 2024, the group had allegedly posted false recruitment advertisements for actors, models and film crew members in numerous WeChat groups. It arranged flights, hotel bookings and transportation for prospective recruits, lured them to Thailand and then transferred them to Myawaddy, where they were sold to telecom fraud compounds, the Ministry of Public Security said.

Chinese actor Wang Xing was among the victims, according to media reports.

Police previously said Wang saw a notice in a WeChat group on Dec 29, 2024, recruiting people for a film shoot in Bangkok, Thailand. He contacted a purported assistant director using the online name "Yan Shiliu" and traveled to Bangkok for the job.

After arriving at Bangkok airport early on Jan 3, 2025, Wang boarded a vehicle arranged by Yan and was taken across the Thailand-Myanmar border to a telecom fraud compound in Myawaddy. He was later sold to several other compounds.

His disappearance drew widespread attention after social media posts on Jan 5 said he had gone missing near the border.

The Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai said on Jan 6 that it was working with Thai authorities and Wang's family to locate him. Thai authorities confirmed the following day that Wang had been found.

On Jan 8, Thai police said Wang had been deceived by a casting offer and taken through Thailand to a neighboring country, where he realized he had been tricked. A senior Thai police official said a preliminary investigation identified him as a victim of human trafficking. Wang returned to China on Jan 11.

The Ministry of Public Security said on Jan 17, 2025, that Wang and several other Chinese citizens who had been reported missing or stranded near the Thailand-Myanmar border had been rescued and returned home.

Authorities said several cases involving Chinese citizens who had gone missing or become trapped overseas were linked to the group. By Jan 17, 2025, Chinese and Thai police had arrested 12 suspects.

Yan, a key suspect in the case, was brought back to China on Jan 25, 2025, after being apprehended with the assistance of Thai law enforcement authorities.

Another 10 major suspects linked to cases involving Chinese citizens who had been deceived into traveling abroad and then illegally detained were arrested by Thai police and escorted back to China by Chinese police on Feb 15, 2025, the ministry said.