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The Four Families’ loss of power in Kokang marked a shift in who controlled the region’s territory, administration and business networks—not proof that every relative was expelled or that scam trafficking ended. Operation 1027 had a declared anti-scam purpose, but it also unfolded within a longer contest over Kokang’s political order and the Myanmar–China border.
Who were the Four Families?
The name refers to the Bai, Wei and two Liu family networks. A 2025 analysis in China Perspectives identifies Bai Suocheng, Wei Chaoren, Liu Guoxi and Liu Zhengxiang as their respective heads. Their influence was connected to Kokang’s local administration and border-guard structures, as well as commerce, real estate and mining.
That political and economic role should be distinguished from criminal allegations. The Irrawaddy reported allegations linking the families to scam syndicates; those allegations are not the same as independently established findings about every family member or business.
How did control of Kokang change?
The shift had roots in factional conflict before Operation 1027 put online scams at the centre of international attention. The chronology below follows ISP-Myanmar’s MNDAA profile, updated 17 June 2025.
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| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Bai Suocheng sided with Myanmar’s military as the faction of Peng Jiasheng was driven from Kokang. Bai subsequently became the region’s chair. |
| 2015 | Peng Jiasheng’s forces launched an offensive to retake Kokang, underscoring that the region’s power struggle predated the later scam-focused campaign. |
| 27 October 2023 | The Three Brotherhood Alliance—comprising the MNDAA, Arakan Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army—launched Operation 1027. The MNDAA described its aims as including resistance to military rule, protection of residents, federal-democratic change and a crackdown on online scams. |
| 5 January 2024 | The Laukkai-based Regional Operation Command surrendered, and the MNDAA regained control of the whole Kokang region. |
| 30 January 2024 | Myanmar’s military authorities transferred ten members of the four families, who had been sheltering in Naypyitaw, to Chinese police. |
What does the anti-scam campaign reveal?
It reveals overlapping aims, rather than a choice between a purely humanitarian crackdown and a purely factional feud. The MNDAA publicly framed its campaign as a way to fight cybercrime and rescue people trapped in scam operations. Peng Deren, an MNDAA leader, said in a New Year’s message reported by The Irrawaddy: “If we are to completely get rid of cyber crimes in Kokang and rescue the people trapped there, we must crush the four big families and the umbrella backing them.” That is his political framing of the operation, not independent proof of every allegation or of the campaign’s full effects.
The campaign also accompanied a decisive territorial change: the MNDAA took Kokang from a military-backed local order, while China’s concerns about scam operations gave the conflict an important cross-border dimension. The China Perspectives analysis describes how allegations of scams can be mobilized in Kokang’s political narratives and situates the crackdown within both the MNDAA’s changing relationship with China and a wider contest for influence in the borderlands. Those dynamics make it misleading to treat anti-scam language as either a complete explanation of the fighting or merely a pretext with no security dimension.
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What do the reported figures establish—and what do they not?
The available numbers describe different claims and populations. They are not interchangeable measures of the number of victims rescued, the size of a single operation or the amount of scam activity eliminated.
| Reported figure | What the source says | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| More than 100 billion yuan (about US$14 billion) annually; as many as 100,000 people | Peng Deren attributed these estimates to scam syndicates’ earnings and workforce in Laukkai before the offensive. The Irrawaddy reported them on 5 January 2024. | These are Peng’s estimates, not independently verified totals. The reporting also notes that pro-junta newspapers denied an allegation that the military had rescued syndicate leaders by helicopter; that disputed rescue account should not be treated as settled fact. |
| About 44,000 people involved in scam centres | The Guardian reported on 31 January 2024 that China attributed this figure to people involved in scam centres; it included trafficking victims and nearly 3,000 fugitives wanted in China. | This China-attributed figure has a different stated scope from Peng’s estimate of people working for Laukkai operations, so the two should not be compared as equivalent counts. |
| 53,000 Chinese nationals arrested | On 20 January 2025, Radio Free Asia relayed a Chinese Ministry of Public Security statement claiming that 53,000 Chinese nationals involved in Myanmar scam operations had been arrested and that the Four Families syndicate had been destroyed. | This is a state-reported arrest total, not a count of trafficked workers rescued or a direct measure of scam sites eliminated. |
Did Operation 1027 end scam centres and trafficking?
The cited evidence does not establish that scam operations or trafficking ended in Kokang or elsewhere. The 2025 statement relayed by Radio Free Asia included China’s claim that the Four Families syndicate had been destroyed, while the report also described continuing fears for people trapped in scam compounds elsewhere. An arrest figure and a claim that a particular syndicate was dismantled do not show that trafficking risks disappeared.
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Nor does the source set establish the current status of every family member or network as of 7 October 2026. The documented transfer of ten people in January 2024 and the Chinese authorities’ later claim are not a comprehensive account of what happened to all relatives, associated businesses or scam operations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the upheaval matters beyond the families
The episode shows how a campaign against a real borderland security problem can also reshape local authority. In Kokang, the loss of the families’ political-economic position accompanied the MNDAA’s return to territorial control; the anti-scam rationale, the history of armed competition and relations with China all belong in the explanation. What changed decisively was control of the region—not, on the evidence cited here, proof that the underlying criminal economy or its human costs were eliminated.
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