Age of the ‘scam state’: how an illicit, multibillion-dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia

Compounds inside KK Park, one of the major hubs for scam centres and human trafficking in Myawaddy, Myanmar. The site was raided, but its operators were long gone. Composite: Jittrapon Kaicome/The Guardian

For days before the explosions began, the business park had been emptying out. When the bombs went off, they took down empty office blocks and demolished echoing, multi-cuisine food halls. Dynamite toppled a four-storey hospital, silent karaoke complexes, deserted gyms and dorm rooms.

So came the end of KK Park, one of south-east Asia’s most infamous “scam centres”, press releases from Myanmar’s junta declared. The facility had held tens of thousands of people, forced to relentlessly defraud people around the world. Now, it was being levelled piece by piece.