• The Ming family criminal group generated over $1.4 billion in illicit profits since 2015 through telecom fraud and forced labor
• Chinese courts handed down death sentences on Sept. 29, 2025, with executions carried out Jan. 29 after Supreme People’s Court review
• The case highlights Beijing’s intensifying crackdown on cyber fraud compounds operating in neighboring Myanmar’s lawless border regions

WENZHOU, China (TDR) — China executes gang members responsible for a transnational criminal syndicate that generated over $1.4 billion through telecom fraud, illegal gambling, and human trafficking operations based in northern Myanmar. The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court carried out the executions on Jan. 29, concluding a landmark case against the Ming family organization that controlled the Kokang autonomous region along the China-Myanmar border.

Among those executed were Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, key figures in the so-called Four Families criminal network. The Supreme People’s Court of China confirmed death sentences for crimes including intentional homicide, intentional injury, and illegal detention resulting in 14 deaths. Since 2015, the syndicate operated compounds where trafficked workers were forced to perpetrate sophisticated online scams under armed guard.

What Crimes Did the Ming Family Organization Commit?

The criminal enterprise centered on compounds in Kokang, where the Ming family maintained influence through alliances with militia groups aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta. Chinese investigators documented how the organization recruited workers through false promises of legitimate employment, then held them against their will and compelled them to operate fraudulent investment schemes targeting victims globally.

“The criminals established multiple compounds in Kokang, northern Myanmar, engaging in telecom fraud and illegal gambling under armed protection, resulting in the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to many others.” —Supreme People’s Court of China, Jan. 29, 2026

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Court records detailed brutal enforcement tactics, including the Oct. 2023 shooting deaths of four workers attempting to flee a compound under police raid warnings. The Zhejiang Provincial High People’s Court rejected appeals on Nov. 25, 2025, affirming that the intentional homicide and human trafficking operations warranted capital punishment under Chinese criminal law.

The syndicate’s reach extended far beyond regional boundaries, contributing to an illicit industry that costs Southeast Asian economies over $43 billion annually, according to the United States Institute of Peace. At their peak, the Ming family and allied groups controlled more than 300 scam compounds staffed by tens of thousands of trafficked individuals, many lured from Chinese provinces with promises of high salaries.

“The crimes were extremely serious, with particularly grave circumstances and consequences. The facts were clear, the evidence sufficient, the convictions accurate and the sentencing appropriate.” —Supreme People’s Court ruling via Xinhua News Agency, Jan. 29, 2026

How Did Chinese Authorities Dismantle the Network?

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Beijing intensified its crackdown in late 2023 following years of diplomatic pressure on Myanmar authorities and mounting complaints from families of trafficking victims. The offensive coincided with a coordinated rebel advance that eventually forced junta troops from the border city of Laukkaing, a hub for online gambling and cyber fraud operations.

Chinese prosecutors secured warrants in Nov. 2023 for Ming family leadership, offering substantial rewards for information leading to arrests. While patriarch Ming Xuechang died by suicide while in custody, his son and granddaughter were extradited to face trial in Wenzhou. The Ministry of Public Security coordinated with regional authorities to repatriate more than 53,000 Chinese nationals from Myanmar compounds since the operation began.

“The Ming family criminal group committed systematic violence against fraud-related personnel, demonstrating the brutal reality of these scam compounds that flourished while shielded by corruption and lawlessness.” —Court statement via China Central Television, Sept. 30, 2025

Investigators utilized financial forensics to trace the $1.4 billion in proceeds, documenting money laundering operations that utilized cryptocurrency and underground banking networks to move assets across borders. The United Nations has documented widespread human rights abuses in the compounds, while the U.S. State Department highlighted the scams’ global victimization patterns.

“China has stepped up cooperation with Southeast Asian nations to crack down on these compounds, and thousands of people have been repatriated, but the cyber fraud industry continues evolving through artificial intelligence and sophisticated money transfer systems.” —Security analyst via TRT World, Jan. 29, 2026

Why Does This Case Signal Shifting Regional Security Dynamics?

The executions represent Beijing’s most emphatic statement yet regarding cross-border crime targeting Chinese citizens, combining judicial severity with diplomatic muscle to eliminate sanctuaries previously tolerated for strategic reasons. The case has exposed uncomfortable questions about prior relationships between Chinese provincial officials in Yunnan Province and the border crime families they now condemn.

Regional security experts note that while the Ming family dismantling marks progress, cyber fraud syndicates continue adapting through technological innovation and relocation to more permissive jurisdictions. The high-tech fraud centers demonstrate increasing sophistication that challenges traditional law enforcement approaches.

“The death sentences reflect China’s determination to combat telecom fraud and protect citizens, but the underlying economic desperation driving recruitment and the technological arms race between criminals and law enforcement continues unabated.” —Regional security expert via The Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2026

Will Beijing’s lethal deterrence strategy permanently dismantle these criminal networks, or will executionary justice merely displace the operations to more remote digital frontiers beyond Chinese jurisdiction?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from Xinhua News Agency’s coverage of the Supreme People’s Court proceedings, official statements by the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court and China Central Television, investigative reporting by The Washington Post regarding Chinese official ties to border crime families, CNN’s analysis of the Myanmar junta’s complicity, TRT World’s coverage of regional security implications, China News Service documentation of the financial scope, and background data from the United States Institute of Peace on regional economic impacts.

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