A total of 370 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in telecom fraud were transferred to the public security bureau of Southwest China's Yunnan Province by the local authorities of Myanmar's Wa State on Sunday following a joint crackdown.
The suspects were received on Sunday by police officers at the Menglian Dai and Lagu Autonomous County Port in Pu'er after a cooperation deal was signed by the judicial committee of Wa State and the city public security bureau of Pu'er, Yunnan.
Wa State received reports on Thursday from Yunnan police regarding gangs in the town of Pangkham that were suspected of committing over a thousand crimes covering 17 provinces and cities across China.
A crackdown campaign was launched by the local authorities in cooperation with China on Friday to bust the suspects.
Over 500 local policemen and soldiers ambushed suspects staying in 41 hotels in Pangkham on Sunday and detained 370 Chinese cybercrime suspects and seized a large number of electronic devices.
China has seen rising numbers of telecom fraud cases in past years including one incident in which a professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University was scammed out of 17.6 million yuan ($2.6 million) in August 2016.
Internet fraud cases related to the use of unlicensed telecommunication devices account for 20 percent of the total number of fraud cases, a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security said on March 30.
A total of 22 criminal gangs were busted and a large number of electronic devices were seized in a March crackdown, with 98 pieces of equipment confiscated, the statement said.
