Myanmar extradites 2 men to China over online scams ---By Agence France-Presse --- MANILA TIMES

YANGON, Myanmar: Authorities in Myanmar have handed over two men suspected of involvement in online scams targeting Chinese citizens to their Beijing counterparts, state media reported on Thursday. Criminal syndicates are accused of kidnapping or luring citizens of China and other countries to lawless enclaves along Myanmar's northern and eastern borders and forcing them to work as online scammers. The scammers typically target their compatriots and groom them for weeks before cajoling them into plowing money into fake investment platforms and other ruses. The two suspects were handed to Chinese authorities at Yangon International Airport on Wednesday, a statement in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. One of the men was a "pivotal figure in the realm of telecom fraud," it added without giving details. In June, six other suspects implicated in online scam cases were extradited to China, the newspaper said. The latest arrests come after China in July told Myanmar's junta to "root out" scam centers in its lawless borderlands targeting Chinese citizens. The scams anger Beijing, a major ally and arms supplier for the internationally isolated junta. Victims have reported traveling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos on false promises of romance or high-paying jobs, then being detained and forced to work swindling their compatriots online. Authorities from China, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos had carried out a "special operation" targeting online scammers, the Global New Light said without specifying if it had led to the recent arrests. In June, Thailand cut electricity supplies to a Myanmar border town that is home to a billion-dollar development that analysts say is a front for illegal gambling and online scam operations.

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