Mizzima has learned that more than 1,000 Chinese nationals are being held captive and subjected to daily torture at the Deeko Park online scam compound, reportedly controlled by Colonel Saw Eh Le Htoo, the son of Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) leader Saw Steel.

The online scam compound is located near Wawlay town, south of Myawaddy in Karen State, an area controlled by the DKBA. A Chinese national recently shared a photograph on Chinese social media showing people trapped and tortured inside the compound, accompanied by a plea for help.

“There is a resort known as Wa Le Zheng Hei Company in Myawaddy where more than 1,000 Chinese nationals are being held. They were initially transferred there from the No. 20 port area, and numerous soldiers are guarding the entrance, preventing anyone from leaving,” he wrote on 11 January.

The Chinese national wrote that the workers confined in dark rooms and tortured if they fail to meet assigned money-laundering targets, adding that he hopes international organizations will intervene to rescue them.

The online scam compound referenced in the letter, No. 20, is identified as a building known as Dingsheng Park, also called OK Park, located on Myat Lin Myaing Street in Ward No. 5, near Bridge No. 2 in Myawaddy. Satellite imagery indicates that construction of the Dingsheng Park building began in 2018. The online scam centre operating in the building reportedly relocated to Deeko Park by the end of 2025.

In November and December 2025, the Myanmar junta and the Karen National Army (KNA), formerly known as the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), carried out raids on KK Park, Shwe Kokko, and parts of Myawaddy, prompting some individuals involved in online scam operations to relocate to areas controlled by the BGF and the DKBA.

Mizzima compared photos provided by the Chinese national with satellite imagery and interviewed escapees from the area. After analysing additional photos and videos sent by insiders, it confirmed that the location described by the Chinese national is the Deeko Park scam centre complex near Wawlay, under DKBA control. The photos and satellite images obtained revealed matching features, including the same buildings, a swimming pool, a basketball court, and mountains in the background.

The Deeko Park online scam centre complex near Wawlay sits beside the Thaungyin River – known in Thailand as the Moei River – on the Thai-Myanmar border. Near Wawlay, the river is a narrow, shallow stream, making it easily crossable on foot.

The majority of workers were reportedly trafficked and survivors confirmed that they were being coerced into labour by Chinese mafia gangs.

A Pakistani national was reported twice by Mizzima in both Myanmar and English for being trafficked and forced into working at the Deeko Park online scam complex. On 23 November 2025, some of the trafficked foreigners were released from the facility.

Eighty victims of human trafficking from multiple countries were released, including three Pakistanis. The older brother of one of the interviewees was also among those included in Mizzima’s report.

In February 2025, the DKBA handed over 261 foreigners from 12 countries to the Thai government via Kyauk Khat village on the Thai-Myanmar border. Thai media reported that many of those released bore injuries from torture, and there were accounts of sexual assault.

A video has surfaced showing a Pakistani national being trafficked at night by DKBA soldiers in military uniforms, who beat and electroshocked him at the Zongfa Company in Taihe Park (also known as Qingsong Park) near the Kyauk Khat area.

The Pakistani national, who was later released, confirmed to Mizzima that the perpetrators were security guards and DKBA soldiers at the online money-laundering compound.

The Deeko Park compound is operated by Colonel Saw Eh Le Htoo, the son of DKBA patron and former Commander-in-Chief General Saw Steel. The site was constructed in 2024 by Saw Eh Le Htoo with investment contributions from the family of BGF Colonel Saw Mote Tho, commander of the BGF’s No. 4 Military Region.

Information obtained indicates that the Deeko Park online scam compound is also identified as Heng Sheng 5 and is affiliated with the Heng Sheng Group Entertainment Complex, which comprises five Heng Sheng subsidiaries.

Three of the five Heng Sheng sites are located in Myawaddy, while the remaining two are in Wawlay town and under DKBA control. The Myawaddy sites function primarily as casinos, but this is only for display as they are mainly involved in online gambling operations.

Heng Sheng 1 is situated on Paung Si Myaing 4 Street in Ward No. 5, Heng Sheng 2 is on Myasandi Golf Course Street in Ward No. 5, and Heng Sheng 4 is located on Kan Khin Street in Ward No. 3, inside the area of Border Crossing Gate No. 1.

The landowner of these three sites is Colonel Saw Mote Tho, while the businesses are registered under the name of his eldest daughter, Naw Wai Moth Moth Lwin.

These three sites are jointly operated with Chinese nationals, with Heng Sheng 1 managed by Major So Kyi of BGF Cantonment Area No. 4, and Heng Sheng 2 overseen by Saw Nya Htee of BGF Battalion 1017.

Investigations are ongoing to determine who is responsible for managing Heng Sheng 4.

In the DKBA-controlled area of Wawlay, Heng Sheng 3, also known as Triumph Park, was led by Lt. Col. Saw Ba So Gay Htoo (deceased), son of DKBA Commander-in-Chief General Saw Shwe Wa. Heng Sheng 5, also known as Deeko Park, is led by Colonel Saw Eh Le Htoo, son of DKBA patron Saw Steel, the DKBA’s former Commander-in-Chief.

In the DKBA-controlled area south of Myawaddy, there were only three online scam operations before 2024, two in Kyauk Khat village and one in Wawlay town but 15 additional operations emerged in 2024.

There are now 18 online scam operations under DKBA protection in the DKBA Military Command 1 Brigade’s Area No. 1 in the East Dawna region, south of Myawaddy.

On 12 November, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced economic sanctions against four leaders of the DKBA: Saw Steel (former Commander-in-Chief, now patron), Brigadier General Saw Sein Win (Adjutant General), Chief of Staff Major General Saw San Aung, and Major General Sai Kyaw Hla, Chairman of the Central Economic Committee of the 1st Military Command, for supporting cyber fraud centres in Myanmar that defraud U.S. citizens through investment schemes.

Similarly, on 29 October 2024, the European Union sanctioned Colonel Saw Mote Tho (b) U Saw Ngwe Lwin, Commander of Karen BGF Region 4, for allegedly protecting and profiting from online fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking, forced labour, torture, and online money-laundering operations.

The EU sanctions impose asset freezes, travel bans to EU countries, and a prohibition on all business dealings with EU individuals and companies, targeting those deemed linked to transnational criminal networks and human rights abuses.

However, Colonel Saw Mote Tho has not yet been added to the U.S. sanctions list. Saw Mote Tho was not included when the Karen BGF, led by Saw Chit Thu, was reorganized into the Karen National Army (KNA) on 1 January 2024.

Mizzima Special Correspondent Han Htoo Zaw