The international community is moving in quick succession to crack down on China-linked cybercrime rings that have been operating across Southeast Asia, including in Cambodia and Myanmar. Just a week after the United States and the United Kingdom sanctioned Cambodia's "Prince Group," Myanmar's military raided the notorious online fraud compound "KK Park" near the Thai border. As the international community ramps up coordination and pressure, governments across Southeast Asia appear to be taking the lead in sweeping out Chinese criminal syndicates within their borders. Experts said it is a "multi-layered incident" entangled with the civil war conditions in Myanmar, which plunged into chaos after the 2021 coup, the military's political calculations, and China's sway.
On the 21st (local time), Myanmar state media Myanma Alinn reported that the Myanmar military launched an operation to crack down on online fraud, illegal gambling, and cross-border cybercrime starting in early September and, as a result, raided KK Park on the outskirts of Myawaddy, near the Thai border, that day and arrested 2,198 people. At the same time, it seized communications equipment used for cybercrime, including 30 terminals for the satellite internet service "Starlink." Starlink is a service provided by SpaceX, led by Tesla founder Elon Musk. Although it has not received an official license in Myanmar, hundreds of terminals were smuggled in and used as a core communications lifeline for criminal groups.
KK Park, the target of this crackdown, has been synonymous with online fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking in Myanmar for the past five years. It is similar to the "prince compounds" that proliferated in places like Cambodia. Lured by promises of high-paying jobs, people were drawn there from around the world, then effectively held in confinement and forced into crimes such as romance scams and investment fraud. If they failed to meet targets, criminal groups resorted to brutal methods, including torture and beatings, earning the place the nickname "human Hellbound." According to the BBC, among those held were many from African countries in addition to neighboring Asian nations such as Thailand.
According to AP, KK Park was effectively akin to a "lawless city" under government protection. At the time of the raid, the site contained hundreds of buildings, including 10 single-story buildings, 100 two-story buildings, 20 four-story buildings, and two five-story buildings, along with shops, garages, and clinics. Local outlet Alinn said, "Within this complex, no building had any official approval, building permit, or land ownership certificate."
Myawaddy in Kayin state, where KK Park was built, is a major trading city on the border with Thailand. The Myanmar military's control does not fully extend to this area. Various ethnic armed groups divide and rule territories according to their spheres of influence.
The military coup that broke out in February 2021 ushered in a golden age for these ethnic armed groups. According to the civic group Justice for Myanmar, construction of KK Park began in 2020, but completion and full-scale expansion took place after the 2021 coup. Exploiting the paralysis of the national administrative system, criminal organizations spread like wildfire. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said the number of criminal compounds like KK Park along the Thailand-Myanmar border surged from 11 to 30 after the 2021 Myanmar military coup. Over the past four years, the footprint of such compounds has expanded by an average of 55,000 square meters per month, equivalent to eight soccer fields.
The move came as the international community is ratcheting up pressure on cybercrime syndicates across Southeast Asia. On the 14th, the United States and the United Kingdom sanctioned the China-linked criminal group "Prince Group," which had been active in Cambodia. The UN estimates that scam organizations based in Southeast Asia extorted $18 billion to $37 billion (about 24 trillion to 50 trillion won) last year from victims in East Asia and Southeast Asia alone. AP noted that "a crackdown took place in Myanmar shortly after international attention focused on sanctions against Cambodia's cyber fraud rings."
There was also analysis that the Chinese government has been consistently pressing Myanmar's military to root out Chinese criminal syndicates. China-linked mafia are deeply involved behind KK Park. According to the BBC, KK Park began in early 2020 when the Karen National Union (KNU), the ethnic armed group that controlled the area, and the Hong Kong–listed "Wan Jia International" signed a land lease agreement. Wan Jia International is known as a company consolidation to Wan Kuok Koi, a Macau-born Chinese organized crime kingpin famous by the nickname "Broken Tooth." The BBC said, "China is the military's 'biggest patron' in Myanmar," adding, "This raid was almost certainly aimed at placating China."