China executes 11 linked to Myanmar scam centerAFP, BEIJINGChina executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Burmese police hand over five telecom and Internet fraud suspects to Chinese police at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar, on Aug. 26, 2023. Photo: Chinese embassy in Myanmar / Xinhua news agency / APThose conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. Fraud operations centered in Myanmar’s border regions have extracted billions of dollars from around the world through phone and Internet scams. The September rulings that resulted in yesterday’s executions also included death sentences with two-year reprieves to five other individuals.
