Wanted notice for fugitives involved in telecom and online fraud Photo: Screenshot from the official WeChat account of China’s Ministry of Public Security

China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has issued a wanted notice for 100 fugitives involved in telecom and online fraud, including key members of the four major criminal gangs based in northern Myanmar, the ministry said on Tuesday. 

According to an MPS statement, to crack down on cross-border telecom and online fraud and effectively protect the public’s property and legal rights, the ministry has issued a wanted notice, publicly seeking 100 key fugitives and ringleaders involved in telecom and online fraud, including Wu Qiping, Wu Qingzheng, Fu Xiaobin, and Ou Changhua, the key fugitives from the four major criminal gangs in northern Myanmar. 

Investigations found that in recent years, under the protection of overseas forces, fugitives from northern Myanmar-linked criminal groups have organized large-scale telecom fraud targeting Chinese citizens, involving huge sums and extremely malicious conduct. 

In particular, since the MPS launched special operations against crimes linked to northern Myanmar, these suspects have neither restrained nor ceased their activities, continuing organize large-scale criminal operations despite the strict crackdown by the public security authorities. 

With clear criminal facts and sufficient evidence, public security authorities in Hangzhou and Wenzhou in East China’s Zhejiang, Quanzhou and Longyan cities in East China’s Fujian, Pingdingshan in Central China’s Henan, Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong, Kunming in Southwest China’s Yunnan, and Southwest China’s Chongqing, have issued public reward notices for these fugitives’ capture. 

Public security authorities urged the fugitives to surrender for possible leniency and called on the public to report tips or assist in arrests, promising legal protection and rewards for valuable information. 

In a separate statement on Monday, the MPS said the China-Myanmar-Thailand joint operation against telecom and online fraud has achieved new progress, with a total of 1,178 Chinese nationals involved in telecom fraud cases in Myawaddy of Myanmar having been repatriated back to China by Chinese public security authorities via Thailand since the beginning of this month. 

The transfer followed a ministerial meeting on November 14 involving China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, where participants agreed to deepen cooperation and carry out coordinated crackdowns on cross-border telecom fraud. 

Following the meeting, police forces from China, Myanmar and Thailand launched another round of joint operations in the Myawaddy area, where Myanmar cleared multiple scam compounds and detained groups of telecom fraud suspects. 

According to the ministry, more than 6,600 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud have been repatriated to China since February 20, when China, Myanmar and Thailand jointly launched the repatriation operation for fraud suspects in Myanmar’s Myawaddy region, delivering a strong deterrent to overseas telecom fraud groups. 

The ministry said the multinational crackdown on cross-border telecom fraud is ongoing, and that China will continue strengthening law-enforcement cooperation to dismantle criminal networks, apprehend suspects and safeguard public security.

Global Times