China executed 11 members of the Ming syndicate. They ran scam centers and casinos in Myanmar

China executed 11 people – members of the Ming syndicate, which operated in Myanmar, including running 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, writes the BBC.

The verdict against the syndicate members was handed down in September 2025. In November, the higher court rejected the appeal, and on Thursday, January 29, Chinese media reported that the sentence had been carried out.

Scam centers and casinos brought the Ming family more than 10 billion yuan (1.4 billion US dollars) between 2015 and 2023. Their activities led to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens, the court ruled.

Not all syndicate members 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 in a case 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 activists believe that China is the world leader in the number of executions.

The Ming syndicate primarily operated in the city of Laukkai, which was controlled by Myanmar's military junta until November 2023, and then by local rebels.

Laukkai is the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone on the border with China, where Burmese Chinese reside. In the 2000s, the city gradually transformed from a poverty-stricken backwater into a center for casinos and red-light districts.

Subsequently, scam centers specializing in online fraud also appeared there. The most famous such center was the 'Crouching Tiger Villa,' led by Ming Xuechang, the leader of the Ming syndicate.

Ming 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 capture. His son Ming Gaping and granddaughter Ming Zhenzhen were among those executed on Thursday.

According to INTERPOL estimates, hundreds of thousands of human trafficking victims are forced to work in scam centers worldwide (and especially in Southeast Asia). In 2023, online fraud led to losses of at least 37 billion US dollars worldwide, according to UN calculations.

Recently, scam centers have moved from northeastern Myanmar to other regions – to the Myanmar-Thailand border, 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 raided one of the largest complexes on the border with Thailand, freeing more than 2,000 people. In Cambodia, in January 2026, businessman Chen Zhi was arrested and then extradited to China (the US and UK consider him the head of a network of scam centers in Southeast Asia).

INTERPOL fears that the scam center industry could move to other regions – the Middle East, West Africa, or Central America.

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