ADDS BACKGROUND; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE
By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) - China has executed at least 15 leading members, including four on Monday, of gangs based in northern Myanmar who were found guilty of committing multiple crimes, including intentional homicide, telecom fraud and drug trafficking.
The four executed on Monday were sentenced to death by a court last November, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The executions were carried out by a court in Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong province after receiving approval from the Supreme People's Court.
On Thursday, China executed 11 criminals from the same gangs.
The executions were carried out in Wenzhou city in eastern China's Zhejiang Province after the 11 were sentenced to death in September last year.
Last year, more than 7,600 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud were repatriated to China. In February, China, Myanmar, and Thailand launched a joint operation to repatriate fraud suspects from Myanmar's Myawaddy region.
Since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, which triggered a civil war, scam hubs have spread across the country's poorly regulated border regions.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun last week said Beijing has worked with Myanmar and other nations “to combat cross border telecom fraud and eliminate the telecom fraud criminals.”
“These efforts have achieved effective results. China will continue deepening international cooperation on law enforcement and fight telecom fraud and eliminate these crimes,” Guo said last Thursday.