Images Show Myanmar Scam Hub Largely Standing Despite Crackdown

A declared military crackdown has left some destruction at a major scam compound in Myanmar, satellite images analysed by AFP show, but most buildings are still standing in pictures taken up to Sunday.

One expert said the images were evidence that military raids were limited in order to preserve the hugely profitable illicit industry, but highly publicised to imply meaningful action had been taken.

AFP analysis of satellite images of KK Park, one of the highest-profile scam centres in war-torn Myanmar's loosely governed border regions, showed recent damage to around 100 buildings.

That amounted to about a quarter of the complex.

An AFP investigation in October revealed construction at KK Park had continued apace following another much-publicised crackdown earlier this year, suggesting the black market business was still booming.

The military subsequently announced raids, with state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar saying Sunday: "Currently, all the buildings are being demolished."

The satellite images from Planet Labs PBC were taken between October 30 and Sunday, and showed 22 buildings destroyed and some 80 damaged or probably damaged.

There did not appear to be destruction in the complex's central section, which has been extensively developed in recent months.

Some areas, obscured by cloud cover, could not be analysed and satellite imagery can provide only limited insight to the extent of the destruction. AFP was not able to verify the situation directly on the ground.

Residents near KK Park and have reported hearing intermittent explosions since the latest raids were announced, and state TV this weekend showed buildings being detonated and excavators demolishing structures.

But Jason Tower, senior expert at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, told AFP the military was conducting a "PR stunt in KK Park" -- creating the illusion of a crackdown.

The military has ruled Myanmar since snatching power in a 2021 coup that sparked civil war, and has been accused of mustering the support of powerful militias by allowing them to profit from the scam hubs.

The junta's key international backer China has also lobbied it with pressure to shut them down, analysts say, requiring a balancing act to keep both crucial allies on side.

Many scam hub workers are willing employees, while others claim they were trafficked by criminal syndicates who target cons at foreigners ranging from gullible bank managers to widowed housewives.

While the current upheaval caused around 1,500 workers to flee over the border to Thailand, experts say many more likely remained behind and went to work at other nearby scam hubs.

"The Myanmar military's claims that it has dismantled scam syndicates are entirely false," Tower said.