ANKARA

China on Monday charged 39 people, including 16 Myanmar citizens of a criminal gang, with crimes related to suspected murder, drugs and telecoms fraud, according to state-run media.

The suspects face charges of fraud, intentional homicide, intentional injury, illegal detention, operating casinos, drug trafficking, and organizing prostitution, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on cross-border cybercrime in 2023 and Myanmar handed over more than 31,000 telecoms fraud suspects to Beijing.

According to Chinese officials, these crime syndicates have made millions of dollars through fraud and scams.

Over 10,000 confirmed cases of telecom fraud associated with these suspects have been reported, amounting to millions of dollars, with several Chinese citizens having lost their lives, according to the agency.

Chinese authorities filed the cases against 39 suspects in a local court in Wenzhou, a coastal city in east China's Zhejiang province, accusing them of crimes including fraud, murder and drug trafficking.

While several thousand other suspects linked to the criminal groups are currently under investigation by procuratorates in Wenzhou and other locations across China.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid