China captures scam center suspect with Thailand’s help

Actor Wang Xing was found by Myanmar authorities on Jan 6 and sent back to Thailand on Jan 7.PHOTO: BA GUA MING TAN/WEIBO via The Straits Times/Asia News Network

BEIJING — Police have detained a man suspected of involvement in the case of a Chinese actor who was duped into traveling to Thailand for a film job and then trafficked to Myanmar, China’s Public Security Ministry said.

The joint efforts of the ministry’s task force and the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, helped by Thai law enforcement, led to the arrest of a “major criminal suspect” on Saturday, the ministry said in a notice late on Sunday.

The ministry added that the suspect was surnamed Yan and returned to China on Saturday, but did not elaborate.

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Wang Xing, a 31-year-old Chinese actor, travelled to Thailand early this month after receiving an unsolicited offer to join a film that was shooting in Thailand.

When Wang got to Bangkok, he was kidnapped and taken to an online scam compound, one of hundreds of thousands of people the United Nations says have been trapped into working for criminal networks running fraudulent telecommunications operations across the region.

Wang’s case drew national interest after his girlfriend began a social media campaign about his plight, and he was later freed by Thai police who found him in Myanmar.

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The ministry said the police would step up their efforts to crack down on the scam centers, deepen international law enforcement cooperation, and coordinate with countries involved to detain the criminals and rescue Chinese citizens.

The scam compounds that have proliferated in Southeast Asia since the COVID-19 pandemic defraud people across the globe and generate billions of dollars every year for organized crime groups, many of Chinese origin.

Last week, officials from China, Myanmar and Thailand reached a consensus on eradicating the centers in Myanmar.

China and Thailand also agreed to set up a coordination centre in Bangkok to investigate and combat the scam complexes that have mushroomed along the Thai border with Myanmar and Cambodia. The initiative is expected to start operations next month.