'Major criminal' arrested after actor, 22, claims he was forcibly trained as a scammer by human traffickers

Wang Xing, who also goes by his stage name Xing Xing, lost contact with his family on Friday January 3, according to a social media post by a user who said she was his girlfriend.

On Monday January 6 The Chinese Embassy in Thailand confirmed it was trying to locate 22-year-old Xing, who had been reported missing near the Thailand-Myanmar border. Xing was then rescued from a human trafficking operation on Tuesday January 7. When he was found, he told authorities he had been duped into travelling to Thailand for a film job, which turned out to be fake, and then trafficked to Myanmar.

The joint efforts of the China’s Public Security Ministry task force and the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, helped by Thai law enforcement, led to the arrest of a “major criminal suspect” on Saturday, the ministry said in a notice late on Sunday (January 26), as reported by The Independent.

The ministry added that the suspect was surnamed Yan and returned to China the day prior to his arrest on Saturday (January 25), but did not elaborate.

Xing shared his experience with Thai authorities shortly after he was rescused. He said he arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday after receiving a casting invitation from a Thailand-based film crew in late December.

He was greeted by a chauffeur, arranged by the so-called production team, who then drove him to Mae Sot, a district in northwest Thailand that borders Myawaddy and is a city in Myanmar known for being the site of a number of scam operations.

He told police that he was then taken across the border into Myanmar by boat. “I knew I was being tricked when I was taken across the border, but I didn’t dare resist,” he added. He said that when he arrived at the location he forcibly had his head shaved and was locked in a building with 50 other Chinese nationals. He claimed he was coerced into learning how to write fraudulent messages.

“I was tricked into coming to Thailand for acting, but things took a dark turn once I arrived,” he said, according to Hong Kong news portal Dimsum Daily.

Wang’s girlfriend previously said he messaged her for the last time at 11:34am on Friday to tell her about a vehicle change, and adding that he was en-route to the film's opening ceremony. Less than half an hour later, however, at 12pm Wang sent a signal for help. He had not been heard from again until he was resuced on Tuesday.

The ministry said the police would step up their efforts to crack down on the scam centres, deepen international law enforcement cooperation, and coordinate with countries involved to detain the criminals and rescue Chinese citizens.

China and Thailand also agreed to set up a coordination centre in Bangkok to investigate and combat the scam complexes that have mushroomed along the Thai border with Myanmar and Cambodia. The initiative is expected to start operations next month.