Renowned Cyber Scam Center Connected with China-based Criminal Syndicate Targeted

The Myanmar junta announces it has taken control of among the most notorious fraud compounds on the frontier with Thailand, as it regains crucial territory surrendered in the current internal conflict.

KK Park, located south of the frontier settlement of Myawaddy, has been synonymous with internet scams, money laundering and human trafficking for the past five years.

Thousands were attracted to the facility with assurances of well-paid positions, and then coerced to operate sophisticated scams, extracting countless millions of dollars from targets across the planet.

The military, previously compromised by its links to the fraud industry, now claims it has taken the compound as it expands dominance around Myawaddy, the primary commercial connection to Thailand.

In the past few weeks, the junta has pushed back opposition fighters in several parts of Myanmar, attempting to increase the number of places where it can organize a proposed vote, commencing in December.

It currently lacks authority over large swathes of the state, which has been divided by fighting since a armed takeover in February 2021.

The election has been dismissed as a fake by opposition forces who have vowed to prevent it in territories they control.

KK Park commenced with a property arrangement in early 2020 to establish an industrial park between the Karen National Union (KNU), the rebel faction which dominates much of this territory, and a little-known Hong Kong publicly traded firm, Huanya International.

Researchers believe there are connections between Huanya and a notable Chinese underworld figure Wan Kuok Koi, better known as Broken Tooth, who has since invested in other fraud hubs on the frontier.

The complex grew rapidly, and is easily noticeable from the Thailand territory of the border.

Those who succeeded to get away from it recount a brutal regime enforced on the thousands, several from African countries, who were detained there, compelled to operate extended shifts, with torture and physical violence applied on those who were unable to reach targets.

A announcement by the junta's official media stated its troops had "liberated" KK Park, releasing over 2,000 employees there and seizing 30 of Elon Musk's Starlink communication devices – extensively employed by scam hubs on the border boundary for internet activities.

The announcement accused what it called the "militant" Karen National Union and volunteer people's defence forces, which have been fighting the regime since the overthrow, for unlawfully holding the region.

The military's assertion to have shut down this notorious scam facility is very likely directed at its main patron, China.

Beijing has been pressing the junta and the Thailand authorities to do more to terminate the criminal operations managed by China-based organizations on their border.

Earlier this year numerous of Chinese laborers were extracted of fraud complexes and transported on special flights back to China, after Thailand eliminated access to power and energy supplies.

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

Most of these are under the guardianship of Karen armed units allied to the regime, and many are currently functioning, with tens of thousands operating scams inside them.

In fact, the assistance of these armed units has been crucial in helping the military push back the KNU and additional opposition groups from area they captured over the previous 24 months.

The military now governs almost all of the highway joining Myawaddy to the remainder of Myanmar, a objective the junta set itself before it holds the opening round of the election in December.

It has seized Lay Kay Kaw, a modern community established for the KNU with Japan-based financial support in 2015, a period when there had been expectations for enduring peace in the territory following a nationwide peace agreement.

That represents a more important setback to the KNU than the seizure of KK Park, from which it obtained some revenue, but where most of the financial advantages were directed to regime-supporting paramilitary forces.

A well-placed contact has indicated that fraud operations is persisting in KK Park, and that it is probable the military seized just a portion of the extensive complex.

The insider also thinks Beijing is supplying the Myanmar junta lists of China-based people it desires taken from the scam complexes, and transported back to face trial in China, which may account for why KK Park was targeted.