Dramatic moment police storm villa to arrest dozens of Chinese and Burmese over scam operation

This is the dramatic moment police stormed a luxury villa and arrested dozens of Chinese and Burmese alleged scammers in Thailand.

Cyber police raided two luxury houses in Chiang Mai on June 8, following intelligence that the properties were being used as online scam hubs.

Footage shows cops sweeping into the upscale property and detaining several male suspects who were still in their underwear.

More suspected scammers were caught at a second villa in the province, huddled around laptops believed to have been used in fraud.

Investigators said the gang had been renting the houses for 80,000 baht per month and had been staying there for around three months.

Authorities arrested nine Chinese men and one Chinese woman at the first villa, and four Burmese nationals and one Chinese suspect at the second villa.

They also seized more than 100 laptops and mobile phones.

Police Major General Thawatchai Phongwiwattanachai, deputy commander of Provincial Police Region 5, said the group had been deceiving Chinese victims overseas into transferring money and personal data through scam messages.

He said: 'The suspects were paid in cryptocurrency, receiving between approximately 35,000 and more than 40,000 baht per month.

‘An examination of their passports found that some had entered Thailand on tourist visas, which had overstayed their permitted period of stay, and others had no records in the immigration system at all.

‘We are detaining all suspects for further questioning and expanding the investigation to pursue legal action.'

Thailand has become a notorious base for Chinese crime gangs operating fraud and human trafficking operations in neighbouring Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Many operate from heavily guarded compounds in remote border regions, generating billions through fraud schemes targeting victims worldwide.