The United States has imposed sweeping sanctions on a Myanmar-based militia and its leader for their alleged role in running cyber scam networks and trafficking operations that have defrauded Americans of billions of dollars. The Treasury Department on Monday targeted the Karen National Army (KNA), its chief warlord Saw Chit Thu, and his two sons, accusing them of leasing territory to criminal gangs and operating scam compounds that have become hubs for organised crime in Southeast Asia.
The KNA, formerly known as the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), emerged as a splinter militia in April 2024 after breaking from Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a 2021 coup. The militia, which originally formed in 1994 as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, now controls swathes of territory in Kayin state near the Thai border. According to US officials, that territory is being leased to transnational crime syndicates involved in cyber fraud, smuggling, and forced labour.
“Cyber scam operations such as those run by the KNA generate billions in revenue for criminal kingpins and their associates, while depriving victims of their hard-earned savings and sense of security,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in a statement. The Treasury cited data showing Americans lost roughly $3.5 billion to Southeast Asia–based scams in 2023 alone.
The sanctions freeze any assets the KNA leadership may hold in the US and bar any American entities from engaging in transactions with them. The UK and EU had previously sanctioned Saw Chit Thu, whose connections to Myanmar’s ruling junta have long drawn scrutiny. He was awarded an honorary title by coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing in late 2022 for what was described as “outstanding performance.”
Photographs from 2023 show Saw Chit Thu giving interviews at Shwe Kokko, a sprawling casino and tourism complex in Myawaddy that has become emblematic of the nexus between paramilitary groups and organised crime. The complex has been repeatedly linked to cyber scam networks using trafficked and coerced workers to operate fraudulent schemes targeting international victims.
While Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos have all seen the rise of such criminal compounds, international concern has grown in recent months over their expanding reach. A UN report last month warned that these operations now extend to countries as far afield as Ireland and Mexico, and that regional crackdowns have not deterred their growth.
A spokesperson for the Karen National Army, Naing Maung Zaw, pushed back against the US move, saying the group had been working to dismantle scam centres and repatriate foreign nationals held there. “I really cannot understand why this happened when we are working to crack down on scam centres and repatriate victims to their respective countries,” he said. He added that Saw Chit Thu was “saddened” by the news but believed the sanctions would not affect their operations.
The US sanctions come as Myanmar’s military junta extended a ceasefire with rebel factions for the third time since a devastating earthquake struck the country on March 28. Officials said the extension, which lasts through the end of May, is meant to facilitate reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in quake-hit regions.
Despite the junta’s stated focus on recovery, critics say its ties to criminal networks and militias like the KNA undermine the legitimacy of its governance and complicate international relief and justice efforts. The US has vowed to continue targeting actors profiting from instability and human exploitation in Myanmar and the broader region.
