A court in eastern China sentenced three members of a criminal gang to death on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, for running a network of scam centers in Myanmar's Kokang region along the China border.
The Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court in southeastern Fujian province handed down the sentences to Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang for their involvement in what it called the "Wei family criminal gang." Wei Huairen was identified as one of the group's leaders and was found guilty of several crimes, including murder.
A syndicate built on fraud and violence
According to the court's findings, the gang operated 14 "large-scale" scam compounds in Kokang and lured thousands of Chinese nationals to Myanmar with false promises of high wages. China's state broadcaster CCTV described the group as the "most violent criminal force in northern Myanmar."
The group's crimes spanned drug trafficking, organized prostitution, illegal casinos and telecommunications fraud — a combination that netted more than 12.2 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), according to the court. On the murders: Al Jazeera reports at least two Chinese citizens were killed by the gang, while a fuller account from the courts cited by the South China Morning Post and China Daily puts the death toll at four Chinese nationals — two killed for resisting the gang's control and two more killed by an armed group led by one of Wei Huairen's associates.
The sentencing does not stop with the death row three: three other gang members received life sentences, and 55 more received prison terms ranging from 3 years and 3 months to 24 years, bringing the total number of convicted syndicate members to 61.
A regional crisis
The Wei clan is one of the so-called "four families" that analysts say dominate organized crime in Kokang. The case underscores the scale of the scam-center crisis in southeast Asia: the International Organization for Migration warned in July that such centers employ as many as 300,000 workers, many of them trafficked foreign nationals held in prison-like compounds while defrauding victims across the West.
Sources:
- China sentences three people to death for running Myanmar scam centres — Al Jazeera
- China sentences 3 more Myanmar crime bosses to death in scam centre crackdown — South China Morning Post
The Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court in southeastern Fujian province handed down the sentences to Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang for their involvement in what it called the "Wei family criminal gang." Wei Huairen was identified as one of the group's leaders and was found guilty of several crimes, including murder.
A syndicate built on fraud and violence
According to the court's findings, the gang operated 14 "large-scale" scam compounds in Kokang and lured thousands of Chinese nationals to Myanmar with false promises of high wages. China's state broadcaster CCTV described the group as the "most violent criminal force in northern Myanmar."
The group's crimes spanned drug trafficking, organized prostitution, illegal casinos and telecommunications fraud — a combination that netted more than 12.2 billion yuan ($1.8 billion), according to the court. On the murders: Al Jazeera reports at least two Chinese citizens were killed by the gang, while a fuller account from the courts cited by the South China Morning Post and China Daily puts the death toll at four Chinese nationals — two killed for resisting the gang's control and two more killed by an armed group led by one of Wei Huairen's associates.
The sentencing does not stop with the death row three: three other gang members received life sentences, and 55 more received prison terms ranging from 3 years and 3 months to 24 years, bringing the total number of convicted syndicate members to 61.
A regional crisis
The Wei clan is one of the so-called "four families" that analysts say dominate organized crime in Kokang. The case underscores the scale of the scam-center crisis in southeast Asia: the International Organization for Migration warned in July that such centers employ as many as 300,000 workers, many of them trafficked foreign nationals held in prison-like compounds while defrauding victims across the West.
Sources:
- China sentences three people to death for running Myanmar scam centres — Al Jazeera
- China sentences 3 more Myanmar crime bosses to death in scam centre crackdown — South China Morning Post
