China Indicts 17 in Cross-Border Human-Trafficking Ring Linked to Myanmar Scam Centers

Chinese prosecutors have indicted 17 members of a cross-border human trafficking ring accused of luring job seekers to Southeast Asia and selling them to cyber-scam compounds in Myanmar.

The Shanghai Municipal People’s Procuratorate recently filed charges including trafficking in women, illegal detention, robbery and kidnapping, according to state media. Prosecutors said the syndicate operated out of Myawaddy in eastern Myanmar and used armed escorts to move victims across the border. Some captives were subjected to rape and forced prostitution before being sold to scam compounds, prosecutors said.