Fight telecom fraud via cross-border cooperation

Five suspects in telecom fraud cases were extradited from Myanmar to China on Saturday. They were among 24 suspects who were extradited back to the country last week. Many instances of their fraud came to light in recent days. The extraditions are expected to become a beginning for the two countries working together to address the issue.

According to reports, these gangs were based in the northern part of Myanmar where the situation is tense and the government has limited control. They were taking advantage of that to carry out their operations. The gang members, including the gang leader, are Chinese, and the people they targeted were mostly Chinese nationals too.

The fact that such telecom fraud gangs have to find a safe haven outside China to operate from shows the efficiency, determination and good performance of the Chinese police in cracking down upon such crimes. However, the fact that telecom fraud still exists, even if elsewhere, is enough to remind the domestic police that they need to work more closely with their counterparts in other countries to address the issue.

In 2021 alone, financial institutions in China managed to stop 150 million fraud transactions involving 329.1 billion yuan ($45.18 billion). Chinese people remain the main target of such fraud gangs operating from Myanmar. The most effective way of cracking down on such crimes is to enable the police of the two countries to collaborate fully with each other.

However, cross-border law enforcement is much more complicated than on home ground. The extradition of the suspects from Myanmar must have been preceded by intensive diplomatic negotiations among China, Myanmar and possibly more countries. But still the extradition of the 24 criminal suspects sets a good precedent of fighting telecom gangs hiding elsewhere and carrying out organized crime. More such cooperation should be implemented to root out such crime activities.