Poe Labar, Jul 11, Muse
The junta’s military and police forces are conducting token raids and arrests targeting scam centers in their controlled Muse Township, northern Shan State, again due to pressure from China, according to the residents.
Around 6 a.m. today, junta military troops surrounded the Fully Light building in Muse, raiding an online scam company and arresting its operators.
“We don’t know how many people they arrested. We just saw them surround it. However, the scam operators likely already knew they were coming, and most had already fled. There were probably only a few people left, especially those living in the penthouse,” a resident said.
Sources familiar with scam operations in Muse say the center in the Fully Light building is mostly operated by Myanmar citizens, most of whom do not speak Chinese. In the past, junta troops arrested such operators but typically held them in custody for only about six months before releasing them.
“Some people who can afford it are released by paying 20,000 to 30,000 Yuan to junta police,” a woman in Muse said.
On June 16, junta military and police forces raided scam centers in Swam Saw and Kaung Hmu Tone wards in Muse, arresting 41 Chinese and 92 Myanmar nationals.
Reliable sources within Muse Township Police Station told Shwe Phee Myay that approximately 50,000 Myanmar and Chinese nationals are working in online scam compounds in Muse Township.
The junta regime frequently conducts what appear to be largely symbolic raids and arrests against scam centers. These arrests, however, are often aimed exclusively at individuals who fail to regularly pay bribes to its military and police forces on the ground.
Reliable sources with Shwe Phee Myay further indicated that in certain instances, junta forces tend to pre-inform scam companies prior to carrying out arrests or inspections.
Translated by #KLT
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