Photo: Xinhua

From the downfall of the notorious "four major families" criminal gangs in northern Myanmar to joint operations targeting fraud compounds in Myanmar's Myawaddy and the establishment of an international anti-fraud mechanism initiated by China, a major three-part documentary airing on the Chinese state broadcaster offers a rare, in-depth look at how China's years-long fight against cross-border telecom fraud has evolved from dismantling major criminal strongholds to promoting broader international law-enforcement cooperation.

Jointly produced by China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and China Media Group, the documentary chronicles the arduous process and major achievements of Chinese public security authorities and relevant departments in combating criminal groups targeting Chinese citizens from bases in northern Myanmar, including through cooperation with law-enforcement authorities of relevant countries, according to the official WeChat account of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the MPS.

Across three episodes, the documentary follows a clear trajectory: exposing the brutal criminal ecosystem behind telecom fraud compounds in northern Myanmar, pursuing and bringing major criminal groups to justice across borders, and expanding international cooperation aimed at preventing such crimes from taking root again.

The first episode exposes the dark reality behind the once-rampant fraud compounds.

People lured or trafficked into the compounds were chillingly referred to as "piglets." Some were subjected to electric shocks, violence and tight control. In one particularly disturbing scene, a member of a criminal group brazenly compares fraudsters and their victims to predators and prey, saying that wolves are born to eat meat, while lions are meant to eat sheep.

The details reveal how telecom fraud in northern Myanmar had developed far beyond individual online scams into an organized criminal ecosystem involving fraud compounds, armed control and multiple forms of serious crime.

The second episode shifts the focus from what happened inside the compounds to how Chinese authorities pursued criminals entrenched overseas. It documents how Chinese judicial and law-enforcement authorities worked to overcome geographical and law-enforcement barriers and, through cooperation with other countries, bring suspects back to face justice.

Since 2023, China and Myanmar have carried out joint operations that led to the dismantling of four major criminal gangs in Myanmar's Kokang region, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the MPS. From October last year to August this year, the number of telecom fraud cases in China declined year-on-year for 11 consecutive months.

By the end of 2025, Chinese courts had concluded first-instance trials of more than 27,000 cases related to telecom fraud operations in northern Myanmar, with more than 41,000 repatriated suspects sentenced, according to China's Supreme People's Court, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Ming and Bai groups have completed all judicial proceedings, with 39 individuals receiving sentences of life imprisonment or heavier penalties, including 16 sentenced to death. The two cross-border armed criminal rings were completely dismantled, the Supreme People's Court said in February.

Expanded collaboration

However, the downfall of the major criminal groups in northern Myanmar did not mark the end of China's anti-fraud campaign.

As intensified law-enforcement operations squeezed established fraud hubs, preventing criminal networks from rebuilding their operations elsewhere became an increasingly pressing challenge. China's response has therefore expanded from domestic investigations and bilateral law-enforcement cooperation toward deeper regional and international coordination.

The third and final episode turns the focus to a broader challenge - how to prevent cross-border fraud networks from relocating, regrouping and returning after major criminal strongholds have been dismantled.

One striking case unfolded in Muse in northern Myanmar, just across the border from Southwest China's Yunnan Province. The documentary shows that a high-rise building housing telecom fraud operations stood less than 200 meters from the Jiegao border port in Ruili. By around the Spring Festival of 2024, Chinese police had obtained clear indications that the building had been occupied by fraud groups that had resumed operations under new guises.

But the problem went beyond individual compounds. The documentary shows how cross-border fraud groups displayed a strong ability to regenerate even after successive crackdowns.

In July 2024, an accountant at a company in Zhuji, East China's Zhejiang Province, was tricked into transferring 17 million yuan ($2.4 million) after an overseas fraud group planted malware on her computer, remotely monitored it and impersonated her company chairman. Police investigations traced the operation to a fraud compound in the so-called "Fourth Special Region" in northern Myanmar, where fraud operations had resurfaced following an earlier crackdown.

Using the case as the lead, Chinese and Myanmar law-enforcement authorities swiftly launched a joint operation, dismantling compounds linked to dozens of similar cases nationwide and capturing a number of key figures behind the overseas operations. Yunnan police subsequently signed a border law-enforcement cooperation agreement with relevant authorities in Myanmar's border region, helping establish a regular joint crackdown mechanism aimed at dynamically clearing fraud compounds targeting China.

"We are not afraid of them resurfacing. If they emerge, we will strike," Zhang Jun, then head of the telecom and online fraud investigation division under the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the MPS, said in the documentary.

Such cooperation has continued to expand. Since 2023, Chinese and Myanmar police have continued to deepen law-enforcement cooperation, with more than 59,000 Chinese nationals suspected of fraud arrested and handed over to China, while the notorious "four major families" criminal gangs in Kokang region were completely dismantled. 

In early 2025, China, Myanmar and Thailand established a ministerial-level coordination mechanism for jointly combating telecom fraud and subsequently carried out 10 joint repatriation operations.

More recently, with the active efforts of China's MPS, law-enforcement authorities from the three countries carried out their first joint cleanup operation targeting telecom fraud compounds in Myanmar's Myawaddy. More than 630 buildings in the notorious KK Park have since been completely demolished, according to Xinhua.  

The progression documented in the final episode - from China-Myanmar joint operations and a regular border law-enforcement mechanism to coordinated operations involving China, Myanmar and Thailand - shows how the response has evolved alongside the increasingly transnational nature of telecom fraud.

Such cooperation is now expanding beyond individual operations and neighboring countries toward a broader multilateral mechanism.

On September 10, the International Alliance Combating Telecom and Cyber Fraud, initiated by the Chinese government, was established in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province. Representatives from 46 founding countries, 34 observer countries and four international organizations, including the United Nations and Interpol, attended its inaugural conference. The alliance is an intergovernmental organization designed to promote cooperation among law-enforcement agencies in tackling transnational telecom and cyber fraud and related crimes, Xinhua reported.

The expansion of international cooperation is crucial as fraud syndicates seek new footholds under mounting law-enforcement pressure. Some criminal groups squeezed out of parts of Southeast Asia have increasingly relocated to regions including the Middle East, Africa and Central America, according to the MPS.

The cooperation China has helped advance is also moving beyond neighboring countries and individual operations toward a broader multilateral framework.

This year alone, China carried out its first such joint law-enforcement operations with US and UAE police, dismantling nine fraud compounds and arresting 276 suspects. China has also worked with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, among other countries, with more than 20,000 telecom and online fraud suspects arrested and repatriated.

Taken together, the three episodes document an evolution in China's fight against telecom fraud - from dismantling major criminal groups and overseas compounds to cutting cross-border criminal chains and building mechanisms for sustained international law-enforcement cooperation.

This year marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), with combating and governing telecom and online fraud listed among the priorities for public security work during the period. The establishment of the 46-country alliance, together with expanding bilateral and trilateral law-enforcement cooperation, points to sustained international coordination as an increasingly important part of that effort.