THE Myanmar government emphasizes the elimination process of online scams and gambling, which harm the international community as well as the entire world, as a national duty.

The authorities arrested 126 foreigners operating online scams and gambling in Tachilek Township, Shan State (East), together with gambling facilities, yesterday.

Based on reports that online scams and illegal gambling operations were being conducted in Tachilek Township of Shan State (East), a combined team of security forces carried out an inspection. At around 1:30 pm yesterday, about 13,000 metres northwest of Tachilek and about 3,000 metres southwest of Panku Village, they discovered a compound consisting of nine buildings. These included one building (120 feet by 60 feet) used for online scam operations, one building (200 feet by 60 feet) serving as a combined kitchen, dining hall, and dormitory along with an operational area, one additional operational building, one shop (35 feet by 30 feet), one storage facility (40 feet by 35 feet), two dormitories (40 feet each), one entrance/exit gate building (15 feet by 12 feet) and one toilet facility (60 feet by 5 feet).

Inside the compound, authorities apprehended 126 illegal foreigners involved in online scam and gambling activities—122 Chinese men, three Chinese women, and one Lao woman. Seized items included 120 monitors, 97 system units, 46 all-in-one computers, 12 Starlink devices, 12 Wi-Fi routers, 105 mobile phones, and one generator.

The seized items will be managed in accordance with the procedures, and the offenders will be taken action against effectively.

The State is actively continuing efforts to combat telecom fraud and illegal gambling activities, and the foreigners involved in online gambling will be transferred to their respective countries through legal inspection on humanitarian grounds and bilateral relationships. — MNA/KTZH