Junta raids Shwe Kokko scam hub, detains more than 300 in border crackdown

Myanmar junta forces raided the Shwe Kokko enclave in Myawaddy Township on Tuesday, arresting more than 300 people, days after the regime vowed to clamp down on the online scam syndicates that have flourished along the Thai border. The raid comes amid rising concern over the online scam syndicates operating along the Thai-Myanmar border, with Shwe Kokko long seen as a hub for criminal networks backed by local armed actors. Junta backed media reported Wednesday that junta spokesperson Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun said 346 foreign nationals—mostly Chinese—were arrested in the operation, and that authorities seized more than 10,000 devices used for scam activities. Junta-released footage shows soldiers, police and Karen State BGF troops rushing through office blocks filled with rows of computers and wiring but only a handful of people present, a display critics say raises questions about how much of the network was truly disrupted. The English language Thai news outlet, Thai Enquirer, reported Wednesday that Shwe Kokko has been placed under tight movement restrictions, with foreigners barred from leaving the enclave and only local Myanmar residents allowed to enter or exit using temporary passes issued by the authorities there. Shwe Kokko and the nearby KK Park enclave in Myawaddy have become notorious hubs for transnational scam operations, forced labour, and human trafficking, where thousands of foreign workers—many lured by fake job offers—report being detained, abused, or sold between criminal groups tied to local armed networks. Both sites have been repeatedly accused of operating with impunity under the protection of the Karen State Border Guard Force, allowing syndicates to run large-scale fraud, detention centers, and torture rooms. A Myanmar Now investigation published in October revealed that numerous bodies linked to these operations have recently washed ashore on the Thai side of the Moei River.Many residents and workers had been ordered to leave the compounds ahead of the raid, prompting large numbers to flee toward Myawaddy town and the Thai border. With international scrutiny mounting, junta forces moved on Shwe Kokko next, deploying troops there on November 18. Most of the compound’s occupants had already fled the previous night. Junta-controlled news sites reported that if online scam and gambling operations in Shwe Kokko and Kyauk Khat are discovered, effective actions will be taken. The report also included that clearing operations had been carried out in the KK Park area too. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing also stated during his recent trip to Karen State that it is a “national duty” to eradicate those committing crimes against neighboring countries using Myanmar territory. The junta has blamed the trafficking networks on the Karen National Union, NCA-signatory armed groups, and the BGF. Shwe Kokko is controlled by the Karen BGF and Kyauk Khat by the DKBA—both groups whose leaders tied to the scam and trafficking trade have been sanctioned by the United States. The U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned nine BGF-linked individuals and businesses on September 8 for ties to online scam trafficking, including six companies operating inside the BGF-run Shwe Kokko New City project and several Cambodia-based affiliates. Key entities targeted were firms owned by BGF commander Colonel Saw Chit Thu, along with companies led by his son, Maj. Saw Min Min Oo, and Lt-Col. Saw Tin Win, whose enterprise supplies power to Shwe Kokko’s scam compounds. On November 12, OFAC also blacklisted four senior DKBA leaders: Commander-in-Chief Gen. Saw Steel, Brig-Gen Sai Kyaw Hla, Col. Saw Sein Win and Maj-Gen Saw San Aung, for their roles in the region’s trafficking networks. The U.S. State Department announced on November 12 that it would form a special task force to crack down on trafficking operations in Southeast Asia. Similarly, on the Chinese side, the first ministerial-level meeting on combating online scam operations, jointly organised by China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, was held on November 14 at a hotel in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. At the meeting, the junta's Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Major General Aung Kyaw Kyaw said that regional cooperation to combat online scam operations would be intensified. Junta backed media group Myanmar Alin reported that junta spokesperson Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun claimed Washington may have a “hidden agenda” behind its push for action against these networks. But analysts say the raid does little to address the vast criminal networks that have taken root along the border. Without dismantling the armed militia protection and financial pipelines behind these operations, they warn, Shwe Kokko’s crackdown will amount to a brief interruption rather than a genuine elimination of cyber crime gangs. Junta forces demolish a building inside the Shwe Kokko New City project during a sweeping crackdown on online scam operations linked to the Karen Border Guard Force. (Photo: Myanmar Junta Information Center)

Junta raids Shwe Kokko scam hub, detains more than 300 in border crackdown

A military raid in Myawaddy followed US sanctions, Chinese-led regional talks, and rising scrutiny of criminal hubs long shielded by the BGF and DKBA

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