Renowned Cyber Fraud Center Associated with Chinese Criminal Syndicate Raided

The Myanmar military states it has captured a key the most well-known scam complexes on the frontier with Thailand, as it regains important area lost in the current civil war.

KK Park, located south of the border town of Myawaddy, has been linked with internet scams, cash cleaning and forced labor for the past five years.

Countless people were lured to the complex with assurances of high-income jobs, and then coerced to run sophisticated scams, stealing countless millions of dollars from affected individuals throughout the planet.

The junta, long compromised by its associations to the fraud operations, now says it has taken the facility as it extends authority around Myawaddy, the primary economic link to Thailand.

In the previous month, the military has driven back insurgents in several parts of Myanmar, attempting to increase the number of territories where it can organize a proposed vote, starting in December.

It presently doesn't control large swathes of the state, which has been divided by fighting since a armed takeover in February 2021.

The vote has been dismissed as a fraud by resistance groups who have vowed to block it in territories they hold.

KK Park started with a rental contract in early 2020 to construct an business complex between the KNU (KNU), the armed ethnic faction which governs much of this territory, and a unfamiliar HK listed company, Huanya International.

Researchers suspect there are connections between Huanya and a notable Asian mafia figure Wan Kuok Koi, better known as Broken Tooth, who has later backed additional deception facilities on the frontier.

The complex developed quickly, and is readily visible from the Thai side of the boundary.

Those who succeeded to escape from it detail a harsh environment enforced on the numerous individuals, many from continental African states, who were held there, compelled to labor extended shifts, with torture and physical violence inflicted on those who did not manage to reach quotas.

A declaration by the regime's official media said its forces had "liberated" KK Park, freeing more than 2,000 employees there and seizing 30 of Elon Musk's Starlink internet equipment – widely utilized by deception hubs on the Thai-Myanmar frontier for digital operations.

The announcement accused what it described as the "terrorist" ethnic organization and local militia units, which have been fighting the junta since the overthrow, for illegally occupying the territory.

The junta's declaration to have dismantled this well-known scam facility is probably directed at its key patron, China.

Beijing has been pressuring the junta and the Thailand authorities to do more to stop the unlawful activities run by Chinese networks on their shared frontier.

In previous months many of China-based laborers were taken out of deception complexes and transported on special flights back to China, after Thailand eliminated access to power and petroleum resources.

But KK Park is only one of no fewer than 30 similar facilities located on the border.

Most of these are under the control of Karen armed units allied to the military, and most are currently functioning, with tens of thousands running schemes inside them.

In reality, the assistance of these paramilitary forces has been critical in helping the junta repel the KNU and further opposition groups from land they seized over the past two years.

The junta now governs the vast majority of the route linking Myawaddy to the other parts of Myanmar, a target the military determined before it organizes the opening round of the vote in December.

It has captured Lay Kay Kaw, a new town created for the KNU with Asian funding in 2015, a period when there had been aspirations for lasting tranquility in Karen State following a nationwide ceasefire.

That forms a more significant blow to the KNU than the capture of KK Park, from which it did get limited revenue, but where the bulk of the financial benefits ended up with pro-junta paramilitary forces.

A informed contact has indicated that scam activities is persisting in KK Park, and that it is possible the military seized just a portion of the extensive facility.

The source also thinks Beijing is providing the Burmese junta lists of Chinese individuals it seeks removed from the scam compounds, and sent back to stand trial in China, which may clarify why KK Park was attacked.