The facilities are located in the border area with Thailand and house criminals who, among other things, send out romance scams and fake business proposals via email. The business has grown rapidly in recent years and is estimated to bring in tens of billions of dollars annually.
Myanmar's military junta has previously been accused of turning a blind eye to online fraud. But in the past five days, 1,590 foreign nationals who were in Myanmar illegally have been arrested, according to state media. About 100 of those arrested on Saturday are said to be Chinese, but it is unclear what nationality the others are.
Authorities also reportedly seized nearly 2,900 computers, around 22,000 mobile phones, over 100 Starlink receivers, routers and other equipment. Videos showing a steamroller crushing hundreds of computers at a facility in Shwe Kokko have been published in local media.
Facilities like the one in Shwe Kokko are notorious for recruiting personnel from other countries under false pretenses with promises of legitimate jobs, which in reality involve carrying out illegal fraud.
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