Chen Zhi

Force in Play

In Chinese custody, facing prosecution

For five years, Southeast Asia's scam compounds operated with near-impunity, generating an estimated $75 billion while trafficking hundreds of thousands of workers into forced labor. Then a Chinese actor got kidnapped in January 2025, and Beijing decided it had seen enough. Within twelve months, China extradited scam kingpins from Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, sentenced crime family leaders to death, and pressured regional governments into coordinated enforcement—transforming what was tolerated as a regional nuisance into an existential threat for the criminal networks.

Updated Jan 31