Monday, April 20, 2026

China executes 11 Yahoo Boys part of Myanmar scam mafia 

The executions followed years of complaints by relatives of trafficked scam centre workers. 

, and • January 29, 2026
Cyber fraudster
Cyber fraudster [Photo Credit: FE Week]

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who were sentenced to death in September 2025 for homicide, illegal detention, and internet fraud, in Myanmar.

The Wenzhou City Intermediate People’s Court announced the executions in a statement on Thursday.

The suspects, among whom are Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming, and Luao Jianzhang, held prominent positions within Myanmar’s ruling junta and ran hundreds of mafia-like scam centres involved in prostitution and drug production. They were also convicted of killing 14 Chinese citizens.

Two of the defendants, who were part of a crime syndicate worth over $1 billion in just eight years before their arrest and detention in 2013, appealed to the Supreme People’s Court, which upheld the verdict of the lower court.

While Mr Ming Xuechang, a former member of the country’s state parliament, had earlier killed himself in custody, his son, Ming Guoping, a leader in the junta-aligned Kokang Border Guard Force, and his granddaughter, Ming Zhenzhen, were among those executed, after their relatives were allowed to meet them one final time.

The executions followed years of complaints by relatives of trafficked scam centre workers and growing international media attention before Beijing authorities, in 2023, cracked down on the compounds run by family head Ming Xuechang.

One of the infamous compounds, called Crouching Tiger Villa in Kokang, is located on Myanmar’s border with China, and the group reportedly had about 10,000 workers carrying out fraudulent activities.

Authorities had, in November 2025, issued arrest warrants for members of the family over fraud, murder, and trafficking, while offering rewards of between $14,000 and $70,000 for their capture.

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