China Executes 11 Members of Notorious Myanmar 'Scam Mafia'

Chinese authorities on Thursday executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family, a powerful crime syndicate that operated industrial-scale telecom fraud and gambling compounds in northern Myanmar.

The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court carried out the sentences after receiving final approval from the Supreme People’s Court. The group, which operated out of the lawless Kokang region near the Chinese border, was found guilty of a litany of charges, including intentional homicide, illegal detention, fraud, and the operation of illegal gambling dens.

Among those executed were prominent figures Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, as well as key associates Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming, and Luao Jianzhang. According to a report by the state news agency Xinhua, the syndicate’s operations were responsible for the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and the injury of many others during their reign of terror in the borderlands.

The Ming family was one of the so-called "Four Families" that controlled Laukkaing, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. Under their influence, the remote town was transformed into a neon-lit hub of casinos and "scam factories" where tens of thousands of trafficked workers were allegedly forced to conduct online fraud.

Investigations revealed the staggering scale of the family’s criminal enterprise. Between 2015 and 2023, the group generated more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in illicit proceeds. Their primary base, a compound known as "Crouching Tiger Villa", became synonymous with the brutal "butchering" scams—long-term online confidence tricks—that targeted Chinese nationals and others globally.

The downfall of the Ming dynasty began in late 2023 when Beijing exerted unprecedented pressure on the Myanmar junta and local ethnic armed groups to dismantle these compounds. In November of that year, the family patriarch, Ming Xuechang—a former member of the Myanmar state parliament—committed suicide in custody shortly before he was to be handed over to Chinese police.

The Wenzhou court noted that the group relied on armed protection to maintain their empire. In one notable 2023 incident, members of the syndicate allegedly opened fire on workers attempting to escape a compound during a planned police raid. The group's appeals against their death sentences were rejected by the court in November 2025.

Before the executions took place, the defendants were permitted to meet with close relatives. The Chinese government has framed this case as a definitive warning to other transnational criminal organisations. Over the past year, Chinese law enforcement has successfully repatriated over 40,000 suspects linked to similar operations across Southeast Asia.

While the Ming family has been dismantled, trials for other major Kokang clans, including the Bai family, remain ongoing. Earlier this month, five members of the Bai syndicate also received death sentences for their roles in similar billion-dollar fraud networks.