How criminal groups from China are fueling transnational crime across Southeast Asia

The substantial impact of organized crime originating from China and operating in Southeast Asia on global security underscores the expansion of transnational criminal networks involved in illegal online gambling and sophisticated scams. It is estimated that these networks pilfer around $64 billion annually.

Key Points

🚨 Transnational Crime Threatens Southeast Asia: Transnational crime groups in Southeast Asia pose a significant threat to regional stability and global security. These groups are involved in various illicit activities, including drug trafficking, human smuggling, and money laundering.
🌎 China-Originated Crime Groups: Transnational crime groups originating from China are particularly concerning due to their reach, power, influence, and wealth. These groups are expanding their operations and posing a growing threat to global security.
🏛️ Corrupt Regimes Supported by Criminal Groups: Criminal groups in Southeast Asia often support corrupt and dangerous regimes, such as those in Myanmar and North Korea. This support undermines regional stability and poses a direct threat to peace and security.

The criminal operations involve the exploitation of forced labor, money laundering, and co-option of local elites to conceal their activities. The text emphasizes the nexus between weak governance, conflict, and the expansion of criminal networks.

China’s strict anti-gambling laws have driven organized crime groups to Southeast Asia to take advantage of the lucrative market and align with local elites for protection from Chinese law enforcement. Despite Chinese police crackdowns on illegal online gambling, fraud, and money laundering, these crime groups maintain close relationships with members of the Chinese Communist Party and partner with various Chinese state actors, including businesses, party agencies, and quasi-governmental institutions.

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Southeast Asia has become a major hub for transnational criminal networks originating from China, conducting illegal online gambling and sophisticated scamming operations targeting millions of victims globally, with an estimated annual stolen funds value of $64 billion.
The criminal networks in Southeast Asia, primarily centered in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, operate within a web of corrupt and dangerous regimes, involving a wide range of criminal activities including forced labor, money laundering, and online scams, posing a direct threat to human and national security globally.
The United States is a major victim of the Southeast Asian scamming industry, with annual financial losses mounting rapidly, necessitating a coordinated international effort to combat the transnational organized crime through robust data collection, public awareness programs, and coordinated law enforcement actions.

The Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia: A Growing Threat to Global Peace and Security report also outlines the intertwining of these criminal groups with state apparatus and the challenges posed to law enforcement. Furthermore, it addresses the involvement of Chinese-origin criminal groups and their impact on the US, emphasizing the need for international coordination to combat these networks.