Peng Yu Xuan, 19, from Han Zhong city, Shaanxi province, took the Chinese national university entrance exam in June. His scores and intended university have not been disclosed.
Beijing News reported that Peng, hoping to earn some money during his summer break, traveled to Xi'an city with 800 CNY (approximately 112 USD) from his family. He met a woman on a job-seeking app who claimed to be recruiting livestream sales hosts. After telling Peng that "he was very handsome and could make a lot of money," she offered to pay for his travel expenses and took him to Yunnan province in southwest China.
On 1/7, Peng arrived in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, where the woman had booked a hotel room.
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Peng, before his head was shaved, with the woman connected to the trafficking gang. Photo: QQ |
Peng, before his head was shaved, with the woman connected to the trafficking gang. Photo: QQ
He stayed in touch with his close friend via social media for the next few days, claiming he was "safe and free" and could "make a lot of money." He avoided explaining what the job was and asked his friend not to tell his parents.
The friend said Peng was constantly on the move, sharing pictures of meals and live locations. On 4/7, Peng shared his last location from Meng'a Port, the main border crossing in southwest Yunnan near the Myanmar border, and then went silent.
A few days later, Peng’s mother called him, but a stranger claiming to be "Myanmar" answered. Fearing her son had been trafficked to Myanmar for a scam operation, she contacted the police.
The case garnered attention across China and led to a police investigation in coordination with Myanmar authorities.
According to Hongxing News, after arriving in Yunnan, Peng was transferred more than 10 times before being taken to a scam compound in Myanmar. Although he wasn't forced to participate in any scams, his head was shaved.
Eventually, the gang leader approached Peng, saying, "You are young, you just finished the university entrance exam, you have a bright future, you don't belong here." It's unclear how the gang knew Peng had just completed the national university entrance exam.
Peng recounted, "He told me they 'make money with a conscience' so they let me go. He also told me to study hard and be filial to my parents".
The Myanmar group escorted Peng out of the compound and instructed him to seek help from the United Wa State Army (UWSA). He subsequently encountered a man who provided him with food and medicine, then took him to the UWSA Justice Committee, which contacted the Chinese authorities.
"I was overjoyed when I knew I was rescued. I could finally go home," Peng said.
On 20/7, the UWSA in Myanmar handed over 20 Chinese scam suspects and 29 rescued individuals to Chinese authorities at Meng'a Port. Peng was among them.
The story has attracted over 100 million views on social media. Many commenters urged young people to be vigilant, especially students with limited social experience. "There's no such thing as getting rich overnight," one person said.
Northern Myanmar has become a hub for online scams, with the United Nations estimating that around 120,000 people were trafficked there for labor in 2023. Criminal gangs lure young people from China and neighboring countries with fake high-paying job offers, then use force and threats to trap them, forcing them into scam operations or demanding ransoms for their release.
Hai Thu (ODD)
