U.S. Cracks Down on Myanmar Militia Linked to Crypto Fraud and Human Trafficking

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned the Karen National Army (KNA), a militia group in Myanmar accused of operating large-scale cyber scams and facilitating transnational crime. According to the Treasury’s announcement on Monday, the KNA has provided safe harbor to criminal syndicates engaged in human trafficking, smuggling, and industrial-scale crypto fraud.

The U.S. alleges that the group has repurposed hotels and casinos along the Myanmar border into bases for “pig butchering” scams—fraud schemes where U.S. citizens are deceived into online romantic relationships and convinced to send cryptocurrency, often leading to substantial financial losses. Victims of these scams were reportedly manipulated through video calls with models, while many perpetrators were themselves coerced into the operations, sometimes held against their will.

In connection with the sanctions, the U.S. has also designated KNA leader Saw Chit Thu and his sons, Saw Htoo Eh Moo and Saw Chit Chit, cutting off their access to U.S. financial systems. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has blocked any transactions involving U.S. individuals or institutions with these entities.

These sanctions come shortly after a similar move targeting Cambodia-based Huione Group, which was accused of laundering money for Southeast Asian crime networks. The coordinated crackdown underscores growing international concern over the intersection of organized crime, cryptocurrency fraud, and human rights abuses in the region.

The enforcement aims to disrupt financial channels supporting these criminal networks and deter the expansion of cyber scams that have already caused billions in global losses.