Online scams, human trafficking, money laundering and illegal gambling. These are some of the activities that have converged at the heart of four of Southeast Asia’s largest crime hubs, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The Golden Triangle, spanning parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, Myawaddy, a town in Myanmar, and the Cambodian cities of Sihanoukville and Poipet were all pinpointed in the report – titled Borderless Global Threats: Criminal Hubs and Regional Security in Southeast Asia.
IISS said that these criminal hubs have been descended upon by transnational actors across a range of criminal economies, and their financial might often exceeds the GDP of the countries in which they are based.
The reported ability of the bad actors involved in the illicit networks to tap into illegal gambling to cross borders and enter new markets should be of significant concern for law enforcement agencies and governments.
The report said: “Organised crime has become a critical challenge to regional and global security, given its increasingly transnational reach, operational adaptability and corrosive impact on institutional resilience, governance and economic stability.”
The organisation’s report echoes the findings of the United Nations, which noted earlier this year that online gambling prohibition in many Southeast Asian nations has accelerated the linking of illegal gambling with wider criminal networks.
Alongside gambling operations themselves, casinos have also been used by criminal groups as a location to support wide-scale scam operations that have defrauded people globally out of billions of dollars.
Such are the links between the gambling sector and exploitation of illegal networks that the Philippines has taken swift action over the past couple of years to tighten its gambling framework and even eradicate POGOs that had been awash with illicit actors.
Last week, the Cambodian government confirmed that it has revoked the licences of 18 casinos this year due to their ties with the alleged scam network Prince Group – a company that has been sanctioned by the governments of the UK and the US, among others.
The activity supports a wider crackdown on scam networks in Cambodia, and, according to the country’s official state news agency, Agence Kampuchea Presse, the government has indicted 5,032 suspects, repatriated 23,760 foreign nationals, and frozen over $300m in assets.
Though Cambodia has found some success on a national level, the IISS has now warned that countries in the region must expand intelligence-sharing and formalise practical cooperation strategies in order to more effectively address these criminal hubs.
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