China has moved to crack down on online scamming centers in the region, according to the International Crisis Group, which reported that the campaign was impelled in part by growing domestic concern about the number of Chinese trafficking victims lured into these operations1. The group's photo essay, published on 17 January 2024 and drawing on a visit to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos in 2023, said the crackdown followed its July report urging China and the United States to prioritize a coordinated regional approach to rein in criminality in such zones1.
The zone sits on the Mekong River in Laos and is run by Zhao Wei, a Chinese crime boss whose Hong Kong registered holding, Kings Romans, operates on a 99-year land lease1. His organization has been on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list for "drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, bribery and wildlife trafficking" since 2018, and Zhao has called these allegations "groundless"1. The zone spreads across 10,000 hectares, 70 percent of which remains forested hills and nature reserve, and is set to triple its resident population from 100,000 to 300,000 people1. It includes more than twenty hotels, and Chinese rather than Lao is its lingua franca, with clocks set to Beijing time and the Chinese yuan the preferred currency1. The Lao government has an equity stake in the SEZ, but national police and other authorities reportedly need permission to enter, and law enforcement is handled by a private "public security bureau" modeled on China's units of the same name1.
In-person gambling is the main source of income at the Kings Romans casino, the centrepiece of the development1. The Crisis Group team witnessed separate million-dollar cash transactions taking place without documentation at the cashier desk on the casino's gaming floor, and saw those involved walk away with bundles of 100-yuan notes in duffle bags1. A short drive from the casino, the team identified four guarded high-rise buildings with barred windows and high fences wrapped in razor wire; locals said people were locked inside and forced to work as online scammers1. Most of the young men and women held in such centers are from China, Malaysia or Thailand, though others come from as far away as Nigeria, Brazil and the Republic of Georgia, and those held are forced to trick people online into fake investments, sham romances and other scams1.
Interpol issued a global warning on scam centers in the Mekong sub-region on 7 June, noting that their rapid spread represents a "serious and imminent threat" to global public safety1.
What it means for players
The scam centers described are not licensed gambling operators. People held in them are forced to run online fraud, including fake investments and sham romances, aimed at people outside the zone1. For anyone gambling online in Asia, the practical risk is that a site or agent may be run from a compound of this kind, with no recourse if money is lost. The Crisis Group reported that the zone's casino handled large undocumented cash transactions and that the zone is a known storage and trans-shipment point for drugs and other illicit goods1. It also reported wildlife trafficking inside the zone, including the sale of critically endangered species1. Details of how the Chinese crackdown affects individual operators, sites or players have not been reported.
What happens next
The Crisis Group reported that other forms of criminality in the zone continue to go unchecked, and that expansion is under way: a fake Venice is being built below the casino, an international terminal is being added to the airport 5km from the zone, and planning is under way for a port facility across 2,000 hectares1. No further dated enforcement steps were given. For background on reporting scams and checking sites, see Gambling Scams and Safety in Asia, and for the legal position in China see Can I Gamble in China?, Can I Play at Online Casinos in China? and Can I Buy Lottery Tickets Online in China?.