200 telecom fraud suspects repatriated

A group of 200 Chinese citizens suspected of involvement in telecom fraud arrived on Thursday in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, escorted by Chinese police, after being repatriated from Myanmar.

The suspects were first sent to Thailand's Mae Sot, which borders Myanmar's Myawaddy, before being flown back to China on four chartered flights. The first chartered flight arrived at Nanjing Lukou International Airport in the afternoon.

The repatriation marks a significant achievement in law enforcement cooperation among China, Myanmar and Thailand to tackle telecom fraud, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The move came as the three countries stepped up efforts to crack down on a series of transnational crimes, including telecom and cyberspace fraud, engineered in the scam compounds of Myawaddy.

Calling the repatriation "major progress in close coordination among the three countries", the ministry said its working groups visited Thailand and Myanmar in January to hold multiple rounds of discussions with the two countries' law enforcement departments and they reached a consensus to establish a joint mechanism targeting telecom fraud and human trafficking.

Thailand cut off electricity, internet and fuel supplies to Myawaddy and strengthened patrols to prevent illegal border crossings by individuals involved in fraud. Myanmar deployed forces to raid telecom fraud dens in Myawaddy, arrested suspects and rescued Chinese nationals trapped in scam operations. The joint effort led to a large number of suspects being captured in Myawaddy, the ministry said.

The 200 suspects repatriated on Thursday were escorted by Jiangsu police, who are expected to bring more than 800 other suspects back to China.

Ding Jie, a police officer and a member of an anti-fraud team of the Jiangsu Public Security Department, said the police will conduct thorough investigation of the cases that the suspects were involved in.

The ministry said telecom fraud and other transnational crimes have become a global challenge and require strengthened international law enforcement cooperation, adding that China, Myanmar and Thailand would carry out joint operations to combat such crimes on a regular basis.

The Chinese police will deepen cooperation with more countries and do their best to rescue individuals trapped in scam operations, hunt down financial supporters and key members of criminal gangs, and eliminate crime dens, it said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a daily news briefing on Thursday that fighting online gambling and scams is a must in order to safeguard the common interests of countries in the region, and is a shared aspiration of people of all countries.

China is working closely with countries including Thailand and Myanmar to "address both symptoms and the root cause" of such crimes, Guo added.