China has executed 11 members of a powerful family that ran large-scale online scam operations from northern Myanmar, Chinese state media reported, marking the first executions of Myanmar-based scam bosses by Chinese authorities.
The defendants, identified as members of the Ming family, were sentenced in September by a court in Zhejiang province after being convicted of crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling operations, according to state media. Appeals were later rejected by China’s top court.
The Ming family was one of several clans that controlled the border town of Laukkaing in northeastern Myanmar, where they built casino complexes, red-light districts and scam centers that targeted victims largely in China. Authorities said the group’s operations generated more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) between 2015 and 2023.
Chinese courts said the family’s activities led to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to many others. More than 20 additional relatives received prison sentences ranging from five years to life. The family’s patriarch, Ming Xuechang, died in 2023 while attempting to evade detention, Myanmar’s military said at the time.
The group’s downfall followed a late-2023 offensive by ethnic militias that seized Laukkaing amid fighting with Myanmar’s army. The militias detained the Ming family members and transferred them to Chinese custody.
Chinese authorities have framed the executions as a warning to organized scam networks. Five members of another clan, the Bai family, were sentenced to death in November, while cases involving other families remain pending.
The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked across Southeast Asia to operate online scams, with victims losing billions of dollars annually.
