A charted flight transporting 92 criminal suspects involved in telecommunications fraud landed at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport on September 11, 2023. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Following the joint efforts between the public security department of Pu'er in Southwest China's Yunnan and law enforcement authorities in Myanmar, 2,349 Chinese nationals suspected of  telecom scam have been handed over to Chinese authorities, marking the largest single transfer of suspects since the launch of a crackdown on telecom fraud in northern Myanmar began, including 111 suspects who were on the run online. 

Building on prior efforts, the Yunnan public security department has continuously strengthened border police cooperation with relevant Myanmar law enforcement agencies. They have engaged in  intelligence sharing on fraud hubs and suspect profiles and recently launched a series of arrests, capturing a large number of suspects.

On Saturday, 2,349 suspects were handed over to China and subsequently repatriated to China by public security departments from  Kunming in Yunnan, as well as East China's Jiangsu, Central China's Henan, East China's Shandong, Central China's Hunan, Southwest China's Chongqing to facilitate investigations. 

About a week ago, a total of 706 telecom scam suspects from northern Myanmar were handed over to China in three groups, as local public security authorities in Southwest China's Yunnan Province continue to strengthen border police cooperation with law enforcement departments in Myanmar.

To date, following  the persistent efforts of public security departments across Yunnan, 4,666 suspects from northern Myanmar have been handed over to China, including 205 who  had been identified online. Since August this year, nationwide telecommunication fraud cases and the resulting financial losses have decreased by 24 percent and 20.5 percent respectively, year-on-year.

In response to the recent situation of telecom fraud crimes in northern Myanmar targeting Chinese citizens, the Chinese authorities have strengthened crackdown efforts and organized targeted operations, achieving significant results. 

The public security departments will continue to intensify their efforts to root out fraud hubs, legally and openly pursue and arrest those involved in fraud, and resolutely eradicate the "cancer" of telecom fraud crimes in northern Myanmar involving Chinese citizens. 

Global Times