- China has carried out executions of 11 members of the Ming family.
- The group ran large scam centres along the Myanmar–China border.
- Courts linked the family to fraud, illegal detention and killings.
- The syndicate collapsed after militias seized control of Laukkaing.
Chinese authorities have executed 11 members of the Ming family, a group linked to some of the biggest online scam operations operating from Myanmar’s north-eastern border.
State media reported that the move followed years of investigations into criminal networks that targeted mainly Chinese citizens.
The executions followed a court decision made in September by a court in Zhejiang province.
The convicted individuals were found guilty of several offences, including murder, unlawful detention, large-scale fraud, and running illegal gambling businesses.
The Ming family was among several powerful clans that once controlled Laukkaing, a town near the China–Myanmar border.
Over time, the area changed from a poor settlement into a centre filled with casinos, brothels and scam compounds, largely run by organised crime families.
The family’s influence ended in 2023 after ethnic armed groups seized Laukkaing during clashes with Myanmar’s military.
Following the takeover, the Ming members were arrested by the militias and later handed over to Chinese authorities, bringing their operations to a sudden end.
China’s top court revealed that the group made more than 10 billion yuan between 2015 and 2023.
Officials said their activities led to the deaths of at least 14 Chinese nationals, with many others suffering serious harm. Appeals filed by the family were rejected in November.
Beyond the 11 executed, over 20 other relatives received jail sentences ranging from five years to life.
The family patriarch, Ming Xuechang, died in 2023 after taking his own life while attempting to evade arrest, according to Myanmar’s military.
Investigations showed that many workers inside the scam centres were trafficked victims.
Survivors later told authorities that violence was common inside the guarded compounds, with beatings and torture used to force people to carry out online fraud.
Chinese state television aired recorded confessions from arrested suspects.
The broadcasts were meant to show the government’s determination to wipe out fraud networks targeting its citizens.
The Ming family is the first group linked to Myanmar-based scams to face execution in China.
However, officials confirmed that other cases are ongoing. Members of the Bai family have already been handed death sentences, while trials involving the Wei and Liu families are still underway.
Despite the crackdown, experts say scam operations have not ended.
Many networks have reportedly moved closer to Thailand’s border and into countries like Cambodia and Laos, where China has less control.
The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia have been trafficked to run online scams.
Most victims and targets remain Chinese nationals, with billions of dollars lost every year, showing that the wider problem is far from over.
