China Executes 11 Members of Notorious Myanmar Scam Mafia

Mon Feb 02 2026 16:11:05 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a significant move against organized crime, China has executed 11 members of the Ming family, a mafia group involved in extensive scams operating across Myanmar's border, underscoring ongoing efforts to combat cybercrime and human trafficking.

China carried out executions of 11 members of the Ming family, infamous for running scam operations in Myanmar. Initially sentenced in September for serious crimes, including homicide and fraud, the Mings' downfall followed significant shifts in the region's power dynamics. As the Chinese government enforces strict measures against such organized crime, including online scams, experts predict the operations have merely shifted locations, causing concerns about the proliferation of such activities in neighboring countries.

China has executed 11 members of a notorious mafia family that ran scam centres in Myanmar along its north-eastern border, state media report.

The Ming family members were sentenced in September for various crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling dens by a court in China's Zhejiang province.

The Mings were one of many clans that ran the town of Laukkaing, transforming an impoverished backwater town into a flashy hub of casinos and red-light districts.

Their scam empire came crashing down in 2023, when they were detained and handed over to China by ethnic militias that had taken control of Laukkaing during an escalation in their conflict with Myanmar's army.

With these executions, Beijing is sending a message of deterrence to would-be scammers. However, the business has now moved to Myanmar's border with Thailand, as well as Cambodia and Laos, where China has much less influence.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to run online scams in Myanmar and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, with victims mainly being Chinese citizens.

Frustrated by the Myanmar military's refusal to stop the scam business, from which it was almost certainly profiting, Beijing tacitly supported an offensive by an ethnic insurgent alliance in Shan State in late 2023.

Who are the Ming family?

The eleven members of the Ming family are the first of the Myanmar scam bosses to be executed by China, but they will not be the last. Subsequent sentences have been handed down to other family members in similar crime syndicates.

The Ming family's trial, held behind closed doors, revealed their significant impact on local crime, with their operations estimated to have generated over $1.4 billion from illicit activities.

Furthermore, the Mings instituted a culture of violence within regional scam operations, where individuals were often forced into working for them under duress.