Passport confiscated and forced to work: human trafficking in Myanmar

Former victims recognized the badges on the uniforms of KK Park guards in images shown to them by DW. They bear the insignia of the Border Guard Force, a group of former rebels who stopped fighting Myanmar’s military junta a decade ago in exchange for full control over their territories. Its soldiers police KK Park, but the heads of the operation are Chinese.

Among the scheme’s digital crypto accounts, one was opened by Wang Yi Cheng, a Chinese businessman residing in Thailand. He received tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrencies from wallets used by KK Park, and is part of a larger network of Chinese businesspeople abroad, which includes a Chinese mafia boss, according to the German network. Myanmar’s unstable political and economic landscape offers those involved in drug trafficking scams fertile ground for operations.

Wang was also vice-president of the Thai-Asia Economic Exchange Association, a Bangkok-based association that promotes relations between Thailand and China. These organizations have close connections to Wan Kuok Koi, an ex-convict linked to organized crime who is now “fighting for the Chinese Communist Party,” said Jason Tower, an expert at the Institute for Peace.

Wan Kuok Koi is the founder of the Hongmen organization, which also promotes the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Also known as the “New Silk Road”, the trillion-dollar infrastructure project aims to integrate China further into the global economy.

The land on which KK Park was built is in a target area for Chinese investment. Government reports celebrated construction projects nearby, although Beijing later distanced itself due to allegations of large-scale fraud, DW further mentions.