The United Wa State Army (UWSA) arrested over 300 Chinese nationals for involvement in online telecom fraud in the Wa Self-Administered Division in Shan State and handed them over to the Chinese authorities.

The UWSA’s law enforcement unit in the Wa Self-Administered Division’s Panghsang Town apprehended 308 Chinese nationals involved in online telecom fraud, on 16 August 2024. They were then transferred to China through a land crossing. Computers and related equipment seized from the suspected scammers were also handed over to the Chinese authorities, according to a 17 August UWSA announcement.

The UWSA also said that the arrests were the largest number of arrests for telecoms fraud carried out as part of a single operation this year.

Nine other Chinese nationals who were suspected of running and managing online fraud operations were also handed over to the Chinese by the Wa authorities on 17 and 19 August. They allegedly included three individuals connected to fraud operations in the Kokang Region.

The UWSA also announced that it would pay rewards for any information leading to the arrests of people committing online telecom fraud.

The UWSA may have also arrested more people for online telecom fraud since the 16 August mass arrests, according to unconfirmed reports.

In the last week of July what appeared to be armed Chinese Police in uniform entered Tangyan Township in Lashio District, northern Shan State to search for Chen Yanban from the UWSA’s construction department and Xiao Yankuai the district commissioner of Mong Lin.

From 27 July 2024, just before the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) took control of the junta’s Northeastern Military Command in Lashio Town, northern Shan State, the junta allowed a significant number of UWSA fighters to enter and station themselves in Lashio Town.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance has announced that it intends to dismantle online telecom fraud operations along the China-Myanmar border. Since the launch of its Operation 1027 offensive in northern Shan State many online scam operations have relocated to Muse Town, in northern Shan State, according to local reports.