Myanmar's military says it detained foreigners in raid on a second major online scam center

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BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government extended its crackdown on online scam activities to a second major location, detaining hundreds of foreigners and seizing thousands of mobile phones used to carry out the fraud, state media reported Wednesday.

Myanmar is notorious for hosting cyberscam operations responsible for bilking people all over the world, which usually involve gaining victims’ confidence online with romantic ploys and bogus investment schemes. Authorities raided a major scam center in mid-October called KK Park on the outskirts of Myawaddy, a major trading town on the border with Thailand.

On Tuesday, the army raided a scam compound in the town of Shwe Kokko, also near Myawaddy, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said in a statement published Wednesday in Myanma Alinn and other state newspapers.

He said authorities detained 346 foreigners and confiscated nearly 10,000 mobile phones along with other related equipment, while blocking people who were trying flee across the border.

The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centers based primarily in Southeast Asia generate just under $40 billion in annual profits.

Myanmar's military government says it began its crackdown on cross-border online scams and illegal gambling in early September. Following the raid on KK Park last month, more 1,500 people from about two dozen nations who had worked there crossed into Thailand, and Zaw Min Tun said the site’s buildings have been demolished, including by controlled explosions.

The entire area is only loosely under the control of Myanmar’s military government, and also comes under the influence of ethnic minority militias.

Several ethnic Karen militias are active in the area, including the military-backed Border Guard Force, which has signed a ceasefire with the army, and the Karen National Union -- KNU -- which is fighting against the army an part of the nationwide resistance war against military rule.

The Border Guard Force has claimed credit for taking part in the crackdown, though it is widely believed to have earlier at least provided protection for scam operators. It had carried out similar raids in Shwe Kokko earlier this year, and photos published Wednesday show its members assisting in the latest operation.

The military government has claimed the KNU is linked to the scam centers on the basis of reported real estate deals.

Both the Border Guard Force and the KNU have denied involvement in the scam operations.

Much of Zaw Min Tun’s statement on Wednesday appeared to be aimed at addressing skepticism voiced on social media and by the military's critics who suspect the crackdown is superficial and that the raid on KK Park compound was staged. He stressed that the army was “working to completely eradicate scam activities from their roots.”

However, critics say that masterminds of the scam operations continue to operate elsewhere.

Zaw Min Tun highlighted China’s cooperation in fighting Myanmar’s scam operations. China is the top ally of Myanmar’s military government, which is ostracized by many Western nations for ousting the democratically elected government on Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 and reportedly perpetrating human rights abuses against it opponents.