In a sweeping crackdown that has exposed the dark underbelly of Southeast Asia’s booming cyber scam industry, authorities in India and Myanmar have dismantled a sprawling trafficking network that lured hundreds of South Asians into digital slavery. The operation, which reached a dramatic peak in November 2025, has seen the arrest of key masterminds, the disabling of illicit internet infrastructure, and the rescue of thousands of desperate victims from brutal captivity in notorious scam compounds.
According to Gujarat Samachar, on November 18, 2025, the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE) in Gujarat apprehended Nilesh alias Neel Narpatsinh Purohit, the alleged kingpin of a syndicate responsible for trafficking over 500 individuals from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and even as far afield as Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Benin, and Tunisia. Purohit—described by investigators as India’s primary agent in this illicit trade—headed a network of more than 126 sub-agents. His organization orchestrated the recruitment, transport, and eventual exploitation of victims in Chinese-run cyber scam hubs scattered across Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
The scheme was as elaborate as it was ruthless. Victims were enticed with promises of lucrative data-entry or IT jobs overseas. Purohit’s network arranged every detail: flights, transit hotels, and even illegal border crossings. Once in Southeast Asia, the recruits were handed over to criminal syndicates who stripped them of their passports and phones. Many were trafficked across the Moei River into Myanmar’s infamous KK Park in Myawaddy Township—a name that has become synonymous with cybercrime and forced labor.
Inside these compounds, conditions were harrowing. Victims were held hostage for months, forced to perpetrate an array of online scams—including phishing, cryptocurrency fraud, Ponzi schemes, and romance cons—under constant threat of violence. Those who resisted or failed to meet quotas faced beatings, torture, and indefinite detention. As one survivor recounted to the police, “Any disobedience, they told us, would result in being handed over to the Myanmar Army—meaning we would never return to India.”
The financial stakes were enormous. Investigators uncovered transactions worth crores routed through mule accounts and at least five crypto wallets, making the money trail difficult to follow. Purohit himself reportedly earned a commission of $2,000 to $4,500 per trafficked individual, with 30–40% funneled to sub-agents. There was also evidence of a parallel network in Laos and Cambodia, where victims were sold into what officials called “double cyber-slavery” for further exploitation.
The international dimension of the crisis became unmistakable in October 2025 when SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, disabled over 2,500 of its satellite internet devices at suspected scam centers in Myanmar. Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX’s vice-president of Starlink business operations, stated publicly that the company had “disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected ‘scam centers’” in Myanmar. This decisive action followed an AFP investigation revealing that scam compounds—especially in Myanmar’s lawless border regions—had begun using Starlink receivers en masse to connect their operations to the global internet, circumventing local blockades and oversight.
These scam centers, particularly the notorious KK Park, have thrived amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war. The conflict has left border regions loosely governed, allowing criminal syndicates to flourish with impunity. While some workers are lured or trafficked, others arrive willingly, only to find themselves trapped. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that Southeast Asia’s online scam industry defrauded victims worldwide of up to $37 billion in 2023 alone.
Authorities in the region have struggled to keep pace. A crackdown initiated in February 2025 led to the repatriation of around 7,000 workers from Myanmar’s scam compounds and prompted Thailand to enact a cross-border internet blockade. Yet, according to AFP, construction of new scam centers and installation of Starlink devices continued throughout the year, often outstripping law enforcement efforts. In November, Myanmar’s military junta raided KK Park, seizing a mere 30 Starlink terminals—a fraction of the thousands documented by independent analysts. The raids triggered chaos: more than 1,000 workers were seen fleeing north by foot, motorbike, or truck. “Workers are leaving in chaos,” one employee told AFP, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal.
The military’s response has been described by experts as a “balancing act.” On one hand, the junta faces pressure from China—its principal military backer and a country increasingly frustrated by the number of its citizens caught up in the scams. On the other, it must appease local militias whose profits from the scam centers are vital to the ongoing civil conflict. As Nathan Ruser of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute noted, the junta’s actions often appear “tokenistic,” designed more to placate Beijing than to dismantle the underlying criminal infrastructure.
The human toll of these operations is tragically illustrated by the ordeal of Aakash and Arvind, two young men from Haryana’s Palwal district in India. According to their police statements, the pair responded to a social media job advertisement in June–July 2025, offering a monthly salary of ₹80,000 for work in Myanmar or Bangkok. Their recruiter, Rafaq alias Rahi from Jammu & Kashmir, arranged their travel to Yangon, where they were isolated in a hotel before being forcibly taken by armed men through hilly terrain and across a river into KK Park.
Inside the compound, the men were trained to create fake female Facebook profiles and target wealthy Indians living in the US. Their Chinese handlers operated under strict secrecy, warning the workers never to reveal their location or take photos. The turning point came on October 22, 2025, when an assault inside the facility led to a military raid. Amid the chaos, the Chinese handlers fled, and Aakash and Arvind seized the opportunity to escape. They crossed the river into Thailand, where the Indian Embassy provided shelter and coordinated their safe repatriation to India on November 10, 2025. The Palwal Cyber Police Station has since launched an investigation into the trafficking ring, with a focus on the recruiter and the broader network.
Law enforcement’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Over the past three years, coordinated operations by the governments of India, Thailand, and Myanmar have rescued and repatriated around 4,000 Indians from cyber-slavery camps. The recent arrests and infrastructure seizures represent a significant blow to the syndicates, but officials warn that the fight is far from over. As US cybercrime prosecutor-turned-activist Erin West told AFP, “If there is a crackdown at KK Park, this is a small portion of what’s happening at KK Park. And KK Park is a small portion of the number of compounds in the world that are doing this dirty business.”
Authorities have issued urgent advisories to the public: verify any foreign job offers and company registrations, beware of high-salary job scams on social media, and immediately contact embassies or local authorities if detained abroad. Victims and their families are encouraged to report cybercrime incidents to the Cyber Helpline 1930 or the nearest police station.
The crackdown has undoubtedly disrupted a major criminal enterprise, shining a spotlight on the intersection of human trafficking, cybercrime, and the shadowy networks that profit from desperation and deceit. Yet, as the dust settles in KK Park and beyond, the challenge of protecting vulnerable job seekers and dismantling the global machinery of digital exploitation remains daunting—and urgent.
