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China executes 11 ringleaders of pig butchering scam compound

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China executes 11 ringleaders of pig butchering scam compound

China has executed 11 members of a crime syndicate that made at least $1.4 billion via pig butchering scams and illegal casinos across Southeast Asia.

The Ming mafia family was based in the Laukkia township, a hub of casinos and red light districts in north Myanmar that sits on the border with China.

It oversaw a large scam compound called Crouching Tiger Villa, where victims were trafficked and forced to carry out online scams. The family reportedly made 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) between 2015 and 2023.

However, members of the family were detained in 2023 after China-backed ethnic militia groups retook the region. 

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Read more: Starlink a lifeline for Myanmar scam compounds, report

The organization’s head, Ming Xuechang, who also ran the local police force in Laukkia, reportedly died from a self-inflicted gunshot after warrants were issued for his arrest.

Eleven Ming family members were sentenced to death last September by a Chinese court for their crimes, including fraud, illegal detention, and homicide, including the death of 14 Chinese citizens.

A total of 39 Ming family members were sentenced for various crimes, with some receiving five-year prison sentences and life sentences.

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Chinese crackdown on scam center syndicates

The Ming family executions are the culmination of China’s efforts to dismantle criminal syndicates that have established scam centres inside armed compounds across Myanmar’s border with China, Thailand, and Laos.

The gangs abduct victims, many of whom are Chinese, and force them to scam international victims out of money, often in the form of cryptocurrency.

The Ming family members are the first of a number of Myanmar crime bosses set to be executed in China. Last November, five members of the Bai family were also sentenced to death for overseeing 41 scam compounds that made billions of dollars, amongst other illicit industries.  

The Ming family’s head was reportedly just a henchman to the Bai family, which is one of the four major Godfather-esque families that ruled the Laukkaing District for years. Members of the Wei and the Liu families are still on trial.

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Read more: 1,200 slaves freed from Myanmar pig-butchering compound

Earlier this month, the suspected head of another scam operation, under the company name of Prince Group, was arrested in Cambodia.

Chen Zhi is now in Chinese custody and is being investigated over his role in a $16 billion scam enterprise. A sum of 127,271 bitcoin, worth $11 billion at the time of writing, is believed to have been laundered by the group and was seized by the US. 

Onlookers have speculated that the US was able to hack into these funds as the private keys to these crypto addresses were reportedly vulnerable.

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Zhi’s arrest has since thrown parts of Cambodia’s scam industry into disarray, with laundering services shutting down and victims fleeing scam compounds.

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Crypto World

GAS Tanks 90% After AI Dev ‘Steps Back’

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GAS Tanks 90% After AI Dev ‘Steps Back’


The Gas Town token has plunged to a $1.1 million valuation just four days after peaking above $60 million.

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Most Crypto Holders Want to Pay with Bitcoin but Rarely Do, Survey Show

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Most Crypto Holders Want to Pay with Bitcoin but Rarely Do, Survey Show


But most say limited merchant acceptance and high fees stop them from spending crypto.

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Classic Chart Pattern Signals ETH Could Slip Below $2K

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Classic Chart Pattern Signals ETH Could Slip Below $2K

The price of Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), risks sliding below $2,000 in February as a classic bearish setup plays out.

Key takeaways:

  • ETH breakdown keeps $1,665 downside target in focus.

  • MVRV bands also point to price sliding toward $1,725 or lower before a potential bottom.

ETH/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

ETH risks declining 25% in February

As of Wednesday, ETH had entered the breakdown stage of its prevailing inverse-cup-and-handle (IC&H) pattern. This could extend a downtrend that has already erased about 60% from its August 2025 peak.

An IC&H pattern forms when price forms a rounded top and then drifts higher in a small recovery channel. It typically resolves when the price breaks below the neckline support, often falling by as much as the cup’s maximum height.

Ether broke below the inverse cup-and-handle neckline near $2,960 in January. It later rebounded to retest that level as resistance, a common post-breakdown move, only to resume its decline.

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Ether inverse cup-and-handle. Source: TradingView

ETH’s rebound also stalled below the 20-day (green) and 50-day (red) EMAs, which acted as overhead resistance.

These confluence indicators raised ETH’s odds of declining toward the IC&H breakdown target at around $1,665, down 25%, in February or by early March.

Historically, the inverse cup-and-handle hits its projected downside target with an 82% success rate, according to a study by Chartswatcher.

From a macro perspective, Ethereum’s downside risk is increasing as traders cut back on crypto bets, worried the market could slip into a broader 2026 downturn similar to past “four-year cycle” pullbacks.

Fears of an “AI bubble” popping are also forcing traders to avoid riskier bets such as crypto.

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Ethereum’s MVRV bands hint at $1,725 target

Ethereum’s technical downside target sat just below the lowest boundary of its MVRV extreme deviation pricing bands, currently at $1,725.

These bands are onchain price zones that show when ETH is trading below or above the average price at which traders last moved their coins.

Ethereum MVRV extreme deviation pricing bands. Source: Glassnode

Historically, ETH price plunged near or even below the lowest MVRV band before bottoming out.

That includes the April 2025 bounce, when the ETH price rose 90% a month after testing the lowest MVRV deviation band around $1,390. A similar rebound occurred in June 2018.

Related: ETH funding rate turns negative, but US macro conditions mute buy signal

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Therefore, Ether may decline toward $1,725 or below in February, which lines up with the IC&H downside target.