From Drug Smuggling to Crypto Scams

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This chapter explores the transformation of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos from a drug trafficking hub to a center for cryptocurrency scams. It highlights the harrowing experiences of trafficked workers forced into scam operations and examines the severe consequences of their exploitative conditions.

A Chinese businessman persuaded officials to establish a special economic zone in a remote part of Laos. The gamblers arrived first. Then came the drug runners, human traffickers and scammers.

On today’s Big Take Asia podcast, host K. Oanh Ha speaks with Bloomberg Businessweek editor Matt Campbell about his investigation into the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone and how it became a criminal’s paradise.