The sentence was handed down in 2025.
News Department
BBC
In China, 11 people were executed — members of the Min syndicate, which operated in Myanmar, including managing scam centers and illegal casinos. Scam centers are a serious problem in Southeast Asia, and Chinese citizens often fall victim to online fraud. This is the first death sentence carried out in China in such a case.
Members of the Min syndicate were detained in Myanmar in November 2023 near the Chinese border.
The sentence for the syndicate members was handed down in September 2025. In November, the highest court rejected the appeal, and on Thursday, January 29, Chinese media reported that the sentence was carried out.
Scam centers and casinos brought the Min family over 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) from 2015 to 2023. Their activities led to the death of 14 Chinese citizens, the court ruled.
Not all members of the syndicate arrested in 2023 were sentenced to death. Another 23 people received sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
This is the first execution in China related to the activities of scam centers in Myanmar. In November, five members of the Bai syndicate were sentenced to death, while the trial of two other groups — Wei and Liu — is still ongoing.
There are no precise data on how often people are executed in China: such statistics are considered a state secret. Human rights advocates believe that China is the leader in the number of executions in the world.
The Min syndicate operated mainly in the city of Laukkai, which was under the control of Myanmar's military junta until November 2023 and then under local insurgents.
Laukkai is the capital of the Kokang self-governing zone on the border with China, where Burmese Chinese live. In the 2000s, the city gradually transformed from a poor backwater into a center for casinos and red-light districts.
Then scam centers specializing in online fraud appeared in it. The most famous of these centers was the 'Villa of the Sneaking Tiger', led by Min Xuechang, the leader of the syndicate.
Min Xuechang died in November 2023 when other members of his family were arrested: according to authorities, the 69-year-old man committed suicide to avoid arrest. His son Min Goping and granddaughter Min Zhenzhen were among those executed on Thursday.
According to Interpol, hundreds of thousands of victims of human trafficking are forced to work in scam centers worldwide (especially in Southeast Asia). In 2023, online fraud led to losses of at least $37 billion globally, according to UN estimates.
Recently, scam centers have moved from northeastern Myanmar to other regions — to the border of Myanmar and Thailand, as well as to Cambodia and Laos, where China has much less influence.
Local authorities have intensified pressure on scam centers in recent months. In October 2025, Myanmar’s military junta conducted a raid on one of the largest complexes on the border with Thailand, freeing more than 2000 people. In Cambodia in January 2026, businessman Chen Zhi was arrested and then extradited to China (the USA and UK consider him the head of the scam center network in Southeast Asia).
Interpol fears that the scam center industry may move to other regions — the Middle East, West Africa, or Central America.
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