ASEANAPOL Secretariat Strengthens Cooperation with Myanmar to Counter Transnational Online Scam Networks

ASEANAPOL Secretariat Strengthens Cooperation with Myanmar to Counter Transnational Online Scam Networks

On 30 January 2026 at 3:00 p.m., Police Senior Colonel Kongkrissada Kittithiraphong, Ph.D., Executive Director of the ASEANAPOL Secretariat, together with the Director for Plans and Programmes, paid a courtesy call on the Ambassador of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to Kuala Lumpur.

During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in combating transnational crime, with particular emphasis on online scams and scam syndicates operating along border areas, which pose growing threats to regional security and public safety.

The Myanmar side briefed that offenders involved in these activities originate from both African countries and Southeast Asia. It was noted that criminal networks have adapted their modus operandi, shifting from air travel routes via Thailand—which have become increasingly restrictive—to alternative land routes through the southern border areas between Thailand and Malaysia, before onward movement into Myanmar. It was further highlighted that some offenders continue to re-enter and re-engage in criminal activities despite having been arrested and repatriated, involving perpetrators of multiple nationalities.

In response, Myanmar embassies, in coordination with embassies of African countries, have implemented preventive measures requiring prior identity verification and confirmation of the necessity of travel by the applicant’s home embassy before granting permission to enter Myanmar for employment purposes. These measures have proven effective in enhancing screening mechanisms and mitigating the risk of transnational criminal infiltration.

Both sides underscored the importance of enhancing regional cooperation through strengthened information sharing, intelligence exchange, and closer operational coordination. Myanmar reaffirmed its firm commitment to taking sustained and decisive action against transnational crime in close collaboration with the ASEANAPOL Secretariat.