WEBVTT

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I was hoping to go
and work overseas.

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And one day, 
I was approached.

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It starts with an
attractive job offer abroad.

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And it ends in
modern slavery.

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I cannot just say
that I want to go out.

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They have guns,
they can shoot you.

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Here, in Southeast Asia,

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thousands of people are
trafficked into secret sites,

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where they are forced to scam
unsuspecting victims across the globe.

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I was so shocked to hear
how big the compound is

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it's like running
a corporation.

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Their only hope: a few volunteers
and activists who help them escape.

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We're coming down.

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But who is behind this
brutal scam factory?

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We go to one of the largest
scamming operations in Southeast Asia

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to track down
the perpetrators.

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We followed the money, and it
led us to a vast criminal network

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spanning the globe.

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He says he used to
fight for the cartels,

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and now he fights for the
Chinese Communist Party.

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In 2022, Aaron was
finishing his university degree

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in a country in
southern Africa,

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when he was recruited by a
technology company based in Thailand.

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On Google Maps, I could see
they have different locations,

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some of them
in Thailand.

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I thought everything was
legit - until I got to Bangkok.

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When I arrived in Bangkok,

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I saw someone was
waiting for me with a sign,

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my name was on it.

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He took me to a car
with two other guys.

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We were supposed to
go to a hotel that is like,

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maybe 10 minutes
away from the airport.

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But we drove in a
different direction.

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Instead of a ten-minute ride,
Aaron was in the car for hours.

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That�s when we realized
we are not going to Bangkok.

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I was so scared.

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Then the car
parked at a house.

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The group
is ushered in.

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We were told to
hide with the pigs.

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We don't understand
what is happening here.

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They hide
for hours.

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Under the cover of dark,
they�re taken to a nearby river.

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We must keep down.

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Keep down.

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Now, we are
really afraid.

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The boat came.

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They put
our bags in.

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There are people with guns,
they said we should get in the boat

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and we crossed.

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Aaron and the rest of the group
were brought to a compound

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surrounded by high
walls with barbed wire.

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Now, they�re
trapped inside.

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This is the river
that Aaron crossed.

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The Moei marks the border
separating Thailand and Myanmar.

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On the Burmese side, it isn�t
always clear who is in control.

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For most of its history,

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Myanmar has been ruled
by a brutal military regime.

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But here at the eastern
border with Thailand,

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armed groups of the
Karenni ethnic minority

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have fought for
their independence.

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But a decade ago, the
reality on the ground changed.

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Some groups still
fight the government.

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But others have made a
deal with the Burmese military.

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Today, these former rebels form
the official Border Guard Forces.

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And in exchange, they are free to
pursue their own business interests.

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KK Park ? this is
where Aaron is taken to.

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Thousands are trafficked here
and forced to scam people in China,

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the US, and Europe.

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There are a few compounds
like this in the area.

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But this one is
the most notorious.

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And the most
secretive one.

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Armed soldiers guard the entrances
and CCTV cameras are everywhere.

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We reviewed exclusive images
taken from within the compound

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and spoke to several
victims who were held here.

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They all recognized the
badges on the guards' uniforms.

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They are the insignia of
the Border Guard Forces

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the former rebels
who changed sides.

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One thing is clear: soldiers from
Myanmar�s Border Guard Force

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are present
in KK Park.

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In KK Park, Aaron meets
Lucas from western Africa

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he was also trafficked
into the compound.

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They received detailed
instructions on how to scam people

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upon arriving at
the compound.

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We reviewed several
of these manuals

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and they carefully explain how to
build trust and exploit weaknesses

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in their so-called
client, such as:

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Be funny, make clients
fall in love with you

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so deeply that they
forget everything.

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Sometimes it is
the need for love.

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And sometimes, it is the
need to connect with others.

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Where I live, we don�t have
a lot of Asian populations.

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I was talking with some
Asian people online.

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I met this
Asian person.

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He told me he's
from California.

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Laura is a Chinese
immigrant in a Western country.

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After a while, this guy, he says
we have this type of crypto currency.

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I wanted to learn how
cryptocurrency works so...

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and this person
was so kind.

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He said, I'm going to teach you.

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Cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, are
increasingly popular as investments.

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The risk is high, but so
are the margins for profit.

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They are largely unregulated, and
transactions are difficult to trace.

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That also makes them
attractive for organized crime.

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So I trusted this person,
you know, I let him teach me.

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You invest in the website,
you can see your funds there,

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you can take
out that money.

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The scammers groom the
victims, often for months,

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and persuade them to
invest more and more.

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Laura thought the
website was legitimate.

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She believed she exchanged her
savings for a lucrative investment.

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But instead, her money
went to a crypto wallet,

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the equivalent of a digital account,
controlled by the scammers.

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I wanted to withdraw a couple thousand
dollars, and I couldn't withdraw them.

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And this person
was pushing me

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to invest more money
into this cryptocurrency.

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The website is
suddenly down.

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The scammer goes silent,
and your money is gone.

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This form of scamming
is called pig-butchering

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the scammer fattens the victim
and then goes in for the slaughter.

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And you�re left wondering, why
is this person doing this to me?

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After being scammed, Laura
started a volunteer group

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to help other
scammed victims.

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But then, something
unexpected happened.

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We thought that everybody in
this scam industry is a criminal,

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is a bad person until one
day someone reached out to us

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and said he had been trafficked
into this scam compound.

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And I was so shocked to
hear how big the compound is

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it's like running
a corporation.

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People are trafficked in
from all over the world.

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But several sources confirmed that the
bosses in the compound are Chinese.

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They track screen time on work
phones and randomly inspect rooms.

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Security was checking
our computers,

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seeing if we were
doing our job or playing.

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Lucas and Aaron
received financial targets:

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numbers of clients to be contacted
and amount of money to be scammed.

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If there is no client
at noon, no lunch.

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If someone checks and
you didn't reply to a client,

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they beat you or make
you stand for hours.

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We work 17 hours a day, no
complaints, no holidays, no rest.

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And if we say we want to leave,
they tell us that they will sell us

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or kill us.

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Last night, I got a message from
somebody inside the compound

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saying I think I'm going
to get out tomorrow.

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Judah and Mechelle are aid workers
on the Thai side of the border.

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They help trafficked victims
escape from these brutal compounds.

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Today, a group of
victims reached out.

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From what I understand, the majority
of them have just been disruptive,

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they have refused to work, they've
been problematic to the bosses.

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And so, you've
refused to work,

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so then they're going to sell
you to another compound.

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When victims are transferred
to another compound,

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they often go through Thailand because
the roads are faster and safer.

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This is Judah and Mechelle�s
only chance to intercept the group.

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Not every rescue is successful, and
not every rescue or case provides you

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with the opportunity to
actually track and intercept.

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If a phone goes dark, you
can't chase a ghost around town.

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I need to alert them soon as they can

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because if they
stop at a traffic light,

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it's their chance
to get out.

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He has not
responded since 07:13,

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and his update of his live tracking
hasn't updated for 11, 12 minutes.

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It�s not a
good sign.

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The story of these scam
factories begins in Beijing

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with a grandiose
announcement:

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We stand ready to join
people around the world

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to build the Belt
and Road Initiative.

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In 2013, China�s
head of state Xi Jinping

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announced a massive
investment program abroad.

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The Belt and Road Initiative
was intended to link China

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closer to
global trade.

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One of its biggest target
countries was Myanmar.

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It was the opening shot
for Chinese investors

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to rush and build out infrastructure
in this impoverished country.

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But it was also an opportunity
for a much shadier business.

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Here in Karen State,
near the Thai border,

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whole new cities
sprung up within years,

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destined to be Asia�s new gambling
destination for Chinese clients.

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Gambling is illegal in mainland
China and most of Southeast Asia.

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But here, in this war-torn part
of Myanmar, nobody is looking.

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This promotional video shows
what the billion-dollar investments

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would look like for a gigantic
gambling town on the border.

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Here, Chinese businessman She
Zhijiang is seen signing the project.

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Next to him: The head of the
former rebels-turned-border guards.

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Chinese government reports
initially hailed this project

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as an integral part of
Belt and Road ambitions.

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Only when reports of widespread
organized fraud sprang up,

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did Beijing
distance itself.

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Just two years later, a few kilometers
due south, the same solemn scenes.

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Saixigang: a place meant to
become another gambling destination.

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The visionary: Wan Kuok Koi, a
notorious crime boss from Macao,

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present at the
groundbreaking ceremony.

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He also goes by the
nickname Broken Tooth.

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KK Park, the
scam compound,

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lies just in the middle of
these two casino cities.

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But here, there is no
public opening ceremony.

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Those behind it
remain a mystery.

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Rumors circulate that one of
these two Chinese investors

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could be behind
this cruel operation.

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But so far, proof
remains elusive

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Aaron and Lucas spend
several months in KK Park.

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As time passes, they
become increasingly desperate.

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After they said no salary,
we started to complain,

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and then we
refused to work.

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Suddenly, they
must pack their bags.

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I heard them saying they would sell
us to a place in northern Myanmar.

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Workers who are of no use
to the bosses are often resold

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to other
criminal groups.

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Aaron, Lucas, and others are
taken to the banks of the Moei.

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To hide their traces, they are
forced to switch cars several times

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and wait in shacks
along the river.

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Once they cross to the Thai side,

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traffickers will take
them to the north.

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OK, stand by.

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They�re in
town, man.

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They�re like...

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They're literally, if we had
turned down that street,

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they're at the end of the
street at the river right there.

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You just don't want to drive
down to them until you know.

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You know you know.

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Judah and Mechelle are close
to the victims but intercepting now

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would be too
dangerous.

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They don't know if the
traffickers are armed.

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OK, his last message says:
We're in a bunker after the river.

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I don�t know what�s
down the end of that river.

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It�s a really small
little narrow road, too.

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Hello.

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He didn�t say.

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He just started
sending that live location

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from that one
message that we got.

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Could be in a van,
could be in a house.

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I see in my thing he's like pinned
back into one of those houses.

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Into one of
the houses?

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Yeah.

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OK, I'll turn around
and come back.

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OK.  Head out
on that street.

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Hey.

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They�re right down
the street behind us.

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We just drove
past them.

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The United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime estimates

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that so-called pig-butchering
scams in Southeast Asia

241
00:17:30.879 --> 00:17:33.600
generate more revenue
than the drug trade.

242
00:17:34.080 --> 00:17:37.479
KK Park alone makes tens
of millions of euros a month.

243
00:17:40.360 --> 00:17:43.400
We followed the money trail
from several scammed victims

244
00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:45.080
to see where
it leads.

245
00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:52.080
Like Laura, they invested their
money in a fake cryptocurrency site.

246
00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:56.439
And unwittingly transferred their
funds to a wallet used by scammers.

247
00:17:59.239 --> 00:18:02.239
To hide its trace, criminals
re-routed the money

248
00:18:02.280 --> 00:18:07.360
until it reached wallets KK Park
uses to pool the defrauded funds.

249
00:18:09.439 --> 00:18:13.320
These wallets then made several
direct transfers to other accounts,

250
00:18:13.320 --> 00:18:14.840
including this one.

251
00:18:14.879 --> 00:18:18.119
Millions of euros worth in
crypto passed through it.

252
00:18:19.360 --> 00:18:22.920
We were able to identify
and corroborate that this wallet

253
00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.520
was opened by this Chinese
businessman based in Bangkok.

254
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.040
During the time the
cash was flowing,

255
00:18:31.080 --> 00:18:35.560
Wang Yi Cheng was the vice president
of the Thai-Asia Trade Association

256
00:18:35.600 --> 00:18:38.800
located in this building
on the fringes of Bangkok.

257
00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:44.600
This is also the building
of a Chinese association:

258
00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:47.560
the Overseas Hongmen
Culture Exchange Center.

259
00:18:50.320 --> 00:18:52.400
Both the location
and the center

260
00:18:52.439 --> 00:18:55.439
came into the focus of
Thai authorities in 2023.

261
00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.160
In February, police raided
the building on suspicion

262
00:19:00.239 --> 00:19:02.879
of serving as a front
for organized crime

263
00:19:02.959 --> 00:19:05.600
along with another cultural
association in Bangkok

264
00:19:05.600 --> 00:19:08.400
using the same
name: Hongmen.

265
00:19:13.360 --> 00:19:16.000
The Hongmen were a
Chinese secret society

266
00:19:16.040 --> 00:19:18.959
dating back to
China�s imperial era.

267
00:19:18.959 --> 00:19:22.239
With time, they developed
links with organized crime

268
00:19:22.280 --> 00:19:24.560
and close ties
with Chinese triads.

269
00:19:26.959 --> 00:19:31.040
Triads are vast criminal networks
with thousands of members.

270
00:19:31.040 --> 00:19:34.760
They operate globally and
are involved in drug trafficking,

271
00:19:34.800 --> 00:19:39.680
human trafficking, extortion,
and other criminal activity.

272
00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:46.040
What Hongmen does is it
takes a lot of the symbolism,

273
00:19:46.080 --> 00:19:50.560
a lot of the stories of the Chinese
underworld and it popularizes them.

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00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:56.360
This is Jason Tower, a leading
expert on organized crime in Asia

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00:19:58.200 --> 00:20:01.800
The scamming operations
stemming out of KK Park

276
00:20:01.800 --> 00:20:05.720
trace back to a complex network
of businesses and associations

277
00:20:05.760 --> 00:20:09.560
used by well-connected
criminals to legitimize their crimes.

278
00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:17.400
And they all lead to one
prominent figure - Broken Tooth.

279
00:20:19.080 --> 00:20:23.600
Here we can see him visiting the Thai
branch of the Hongmen association,

280
00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:26.560
the same one that was
raided by local police.

281
00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:34.560
Broken Tooth rose to power in the 80s
and 90s as a member of the 14K triad,

282
00:20:34.560 --> 00:20:37.160
one of Hong Kong�s
largest gangs.

283
00:20:38.280 --> 00:20:40.600
Notorious for
his ruthlessness,

284
00:20:40.600 --> 00:20:43.879
he took over as the 14K
leader in neighboring Macao,

285
00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.239
at the time Asia�s
gambling capital.

286
00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:50.959
But the failed assassination
of a prosecutor led to his arrest.

287
00:20:50.959 --> 00:20:53.320
He spent more
than a decade in jail.

288
00:20:56.080 --> 00:21:00.239
When he was released in
2012, times had changed.

289
00:21:00.239 --> 00:21:03.160
Macao had been handed
over to mainland China.

290
00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.000
The mafia boss rebranded
himself as a patriotic businessman.

291
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.200
He invested in cryptocurrencies,

292
00:21:13.239 --> 00:21:16.680
casinos, and real
estate all over Asia.

293
00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:20.840
And even named a beer
brand after Hongmen

294
00:21:21.760 --> 00:21:25.720
Never missing an opportunity
to show his support for China

295
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:27.400
and the
Communist Party.

296
00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.640
We must jointly support the
cause of national unification

297
00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:40.600
and support the great
renaissance of the Chinese nation.

298
00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:50.800
Wan Kuok Koi also has a
quote that he uses fairly regularly:

299
00:21:50.800 --> 00:21:53.439
he says he used to
fight for the cartels,

300
00:21:53.479 --> 00:21:55.600
and now he fights for the
Chinese Communist Party.

301
00:21:56.040 --> 00:21:58.320
In 2018,
Broken Tooth

302
00:21:58.320 --> 00:22:02.160
established the World Hongmen
History and Culture Association

303
00:22:02.760 --> 00:22:07.040
an organization that has since
spread its presence across the globe.

304
00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:12.760
Two years later, Broken Tooth
and his Hongmen association

305
00:22:12.800 --> 00:22:15.200
were sanctioned
by the United States.

306
00:22:16.360 --> 00:22:20.000
In the announcement, they
drew links between Broken Tooth,

307
00:22:20.080 --> 00:22:23.800
the Chinese Communist Party,
and Belt and Road investments.

308
00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.400
China has denied
these allegations.

309
00:22:31.239 --> 00:22:34.000
It is unclear whether the
sanctions had any impact

310
00:22:34.040 --> 00:22:36.320
on Broken Tooth�s businesses.

311
00:22:37.080 --> 00:22:41.879
From Bangkok, his network continues to
expand from Southeast Asia to Africa,

312
00:22:43.479 --> 00:22:46.720
the Middle East, and
even North America.

313
00:22:49.800 --> 00:22:53.080
We really see that
these criminal networks

314
00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:54.800
are becoming more
and more powerful,

315
00:22:54.800 --> 00:22:56.959
more and more influential
and more and more embedded

316
00:22:56.959 --> 00:22:58.840
in different countries
around the world.

317
00:22:58.600 --> 00:23:00.800
And the efforts by
law enforcement

318
00:23:00.879 --> 00:23:04.760
are really only touching the
tip of the iceberg at this point.

319
00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:09.439
The group of trafficked victims
have informed Judah and Mechelle

320
00:23:09.439 --> 00:23:11.280
that they have been put in taxis

321
00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:13.640
and are now driving
to an unknown location.

322
00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:15.760
Now is their
chance to intercept.

323
00:23:16.320 --> 00:23:20.959
We're looking for a taxi
with the license plate 95,

324
00:23:20.959 --> 00:23:23.520
yellow and blue coming
up on that side of the road.

325
00:23:23.520 --> 00:23:25.119
That could be them right
there.

326
00:23:27.560 --> 00:23:29.320
965. It's probably 65.

327
00:23:29.360 --> 00:23:30.800
You think it's 65?

328
00:23:34.479 --> 00:23:36.760
That's the river
right there, guys.

329
00:23:36.800 --> 00:23:37.800
The bridge.

330
00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.119
It does show that we're on
top of them on the road though.

331
00:23:58.119 --> 00:23:59.080
So, I think
that's our car.

332
00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:00.119
It's a yellow
and blue.

333
00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:01.600
Yeah and he�s
confirmed 65,

334
00:24:01.600 --> 00:24:04.400
but I mean literally we're sitting
at the traffic lights together.

335
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:09.879
So can we tell them we're behind
them, that they can run or no?

336
00:24:16.959 --> 00:24:20.320
I'm going to say that everyone's
probably heading in the same direction

337
00:24:20.320 --> 00:24:21.520
to the same hotel.

338
00:24:21.520 --> 00:24:23.840
Possibly, I think
he just passed us.

339
00:24:25.800 --> 00:24:26.920
We�re just at...

340
00:24:26.959 --> 00:24:29.160
we just passed
the traffic lights.

341
00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:30.920
Yeah, he just
went past us...

342
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.879
OK, we're behind
a yellow taxi.

343
00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.040
turned down
the side street.

344
00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:41.400
OK, pull over,
pull over, pull over.

345
00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:46.720
OK, I can see
where they're at.

346
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:47.879
I know which
hotel they're at.

347
00:24:49.959 --> 00:24:52.680
Can you see it? Can
you see it on the pin?

348
00:24:53.360 --> 00:24:54.360
Yep.

349
00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:57.479
We�re just one
street in front of it.

350
00:24:57.479 --> 00:24:59.760
They�re behind, I can
see where they�re at.

351
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:02.720
Are they all there?

352
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:04.119
Yeah.

353
00:25:04.520 --> 00:25:05.959
We're coming down.

354
00:25:06.200 --> 00:25:07.920
Jesus, help
us. Protection.

355
00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:22.080
Judah and Mechelle bring
the victims to a safe house,

356
00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:24.239
where they explain
what will happen next.

357
00:26:24.239 --> 00:26:28.439
Authorities will either recognize
them as victims of human trafficking

358
00:26:28.439 --> 00:26:30.560
and repatriate
them home.

359
00:26:30.560 --> 00:26:33.479
Or charge them with
violating immigration laws,

360
00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:36.320
which might mean
more time behind bars

361
00:26:36.360 --> 00:26:39.080
this time in an official
detention center.

362
00:26:47.879 --> 00:26:50.400
You never actually
switch off then.

363
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:52.720
You try to give the victims a chance,

364
00:26:52.800 --> 00:26:54.760
the people a chance
to kind of breathe.

365
00:26:54.760 --> 00:27:00.200
For the first time perhaps in 8, 9, 10
months, they've ever taken a breath.

366
00:27:04.040 --> 00:27:07.040
But you stand there
looking out the door,

367
00:27:07.040 --> 00:27:08.840
thinking, is anyone
going to turn up?

368
00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:11.320
Are we going
to be caught?

369
00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:14.840
Is there going to be something
that comes in aftermath?

370
00:27:16.560 --> 00:27:19.960
This moment of respite
will last for three days.

371
00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:22.640
Then they must
report to the authorities.

372
00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:26.000
It was not an
easy experience.

373
00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:28.960
And I hope I can go back to my country

374
00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:31.640
and find a job that
I was graduated for.

375
00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:33.480
To start
a new life.