The Myanmar junta states it has taken control of a key the most well-known scam complexes on the border with Thai territory, as it reclaims key area lost in the continuing civil war.
KK Park, located south of the boundary community of Myawaddy, has been associated with digital deception, financial crime and forced labor for the recent half-decade.
Numerous individuals were attracted to the complex with guarantees of well-paid positions, and then coerced to operate elaborate scams, taking billions of dollars from affected individuals all over the world.
The junta, long stained by its connections to the scam operations, now says it has occupied the compound as it expands dominance around Myawaddy, the main commercial link to Thailand.
In the past few weeks, the junta has repelled rebels in various parts of Myanmar, attempting to expand the number of locations where it can hold a scheduled election, starting in December.
It still doesn't control large swathes of the country, which has been torn apart by conflict since a military coup in February 2021.
The poll has been dismissed as a sham by anti-junta elements who have vowed to block it in regions they hold.
KK Park commenced with a lease agreement in early 2020 to construct an industrial park between the ethnic organization (KNU), the rebel faction which dominates much of this area, and a unfamiliar HK listed company, Huanya International.
Researchers suspect there are relationships between Huanya and a influential China-based underworld individual Wan Kuok Koi, more commonly called Broken Tooth, who has since invested in additional scam facilities on the border.
The complex developed quickly, and is clearly visible from the Thailand territory of the boundary.
Those who were able to flee from it describe a harsh regime established on the countless people, several from African countries, who were confined there, forced to labor extended shifts, with torture and assaults inflicted on those who failed to meet quotas.
A statement by the regime's communications department claimed its personnel had "liberated" KK Park, freeing over 2,000 workers there and taking possession of 30 of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite terminals – commonly used by fraud hubs on the Thai-Myanmar boundary for internet operations.
The statement blamed what it described as the "militant" ethnic organization and local people's defence forces, which have been opposing the military since the coup, for wrongfully occupying the region.
The military's claim to have dismantled this notorious fraud centre is very likely directed at its primary patron, China.
Beijing has been urging the junta and the Thailand government to increase efforts to stop the criminal businesses managed by Asian syndicates on their border.
In previous months many of Chinese laborers were taken out of fraud complexes and transported on arranged aircraft back to China, after Thai authorities eliminated availability to power and fuel resources.
But KK Park is merely one of no fewer than 30 comparable facilities positioned on the border.
Most of these are under the guardianship of local armed units allied to the regime, and the majority are currently operating, with numerous individuals operating schemes inside them.
In fact, the backing of these paramilitary forces has been essential in assisting the military push back the KNU and additional rebel factions from area they seized over the past two years.
The military now dominates the vast majority of the route joining Myawaddy to the remainder of Myanmar, a target the military set itself before it conducts the opening round of the poll in December.
It has taken Lay Kay Kaw, a modern community established for the KNU with Asian financial support in 2015, a period when there had been hopes for enduring tranquility in the territory following a nationwide truce.
That forms a more substantial setback to the KNU than the seizure of KK Park, from which it received limited income, but where the bulk of the economic advantages ended up with pro-junta militias.
A well-placed contact has indicated that scam operations is ongoing in KK Park, and that it is possible the junta took control of merely a section of the large-scale complex.
The contact also thinks Beijing is supplying the Burmese junta lists of Chinese individuals it desires taken from the fraud complexes, and sent back to stand trial in China, which may explain why KK Park was raided.
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