Hanoi (VNA) – Myanmar’s military on November 23 announced that it had detained nearly 1,600 foreign nationals during a five-day sweeping operation targeting a notorious online scam hub near the Thai border, according to The Global New Light of Myanmar.
On November 22 alone, the authorities arrested 223 foreign nationals who were hidden themselves after offending online fraud and online gambling in Shwe Kokko area via some neighbouring countries, including Thailand.
In the Shwe Kokko area, a total of 1,590 foreign nationals who entered Myanmar illegally were arrested from November 18-22. Moreover, authorities seized 2,893 computers, 21,750 mobile phones, 101 Starlink satellite receivers, 21 Routers and a large number of industrial materials used in the online fraud and gambling activities.
Cyber crime syndicates raked in as much as 37 billion USSD in 2023 and are intensifying operations across Southeast Asia despite mounting law enforcement efforts, the United Nations said.
Illegal cyber activities have ballooned since the pandemic with nations of the Mekong region, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, becoming a hotbed for crime syndicates to set up operations that carry out romance-investment schemes, crypto fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling./.
