China Executes 11 Members of Notorious Criminal Gang Linked to Human Trafficking in Myanmar

On Thursday, Chinese authorities executed eleven members of a criminal gang implicated in controlling various scam operations on Myanmar's territory. The group was sentenced to death in September 2025 on serious charges including murder, illegal detention, and fraud. The executions took place early in the morning in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, following approval from the Supreme People's Court, as reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The condemned individuals were part of the notorious Ming family, recognized as one of the four principal mafia groups operating in northern Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma. They have been accused of managing complexes dedicated to fraudulent activities, drug production, and prostitution. There have been persistent suspicions regarding the connections between these criminal enterprises and the authorities in Myanmar, which has been under military control since a coup d'état in February 2021. The coup nullified the results of elections held months earlier, in which the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, emerged victorious. The Ming family, headed by Ming Xuechang, is specifically accused of overseeing illegal operations in Kokang, an autonomous region near the border with China. This area has become a key location for scam operations where hundreds of Myanmar workers, often victims of human trafficking, are coerced into participating in online fraud. In response to the rampant activities of these criminal networks, China initiated operations in 2023 targeting their influence, leading to the detention of thousands of individuals involved in these illicit activities, particularly in Kokang and its capital, Laukkaing. Among those executed on Thursday was Wu Hongming, the leader of another criminal gang. Allegations suggest that the Ming family and Wu Hongming's group collaborated in various criminal endeavors, which included murders, illegal detentions of individuals implicated in fraud, and assaults that resulted in the deaths of fourteen Chinese citizens. These executions underscore the ongoing battle against organized crime and human trafficking in the region, while also raising questions about the extent of criminal ties to official channels in Myanmar's current political climate. Related Sources: • Source 1 • Source 2