Photo/Illutration Foreign nationals are transported by boat from Myanmar to western Thailand on Feb. 13. (Provided by the Royal Thai Armed Force)

NAGOYA--A Japanese teenager recently rescued from a fraud ring in Myanmar was forced to impersonate a police officer in a phone scam involving around eight other Japanese hostages, Aichi prefectural police said.

“I was confined within a compound where my workplace and housing were provided,” police quoted the 16-year-old as saying. “The scam group set quotas for me and paid me accordingly.”

He also told police the group used stun guns on those who failed to meet their quotas.

The high schooler from Aichi Prefecture had been held captive by the fraud group in Myawaddy, a border town in eastern Myanmar that serves as a base for Chinese criminal organizations.

The town has recently made international headlines because of the thousands of people, including tourists, from around the world who have been duped into “working” for the gangs.

The Aichi teenager was apparently ordered to scam elderly people in two Japanese prefectures. A Japanese gang is believed to have been working with the Chinese fraud ring.

The teen is believed to have traveled to Myanmar in December after being introduced to a job in Southeast Asia by an individual he had been communicating with online around November.

Aichi prefectural police said the youth may have obtained a passport under instructions from the person who recruited him.

After he went missing, his family requested a search through the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok.

Earlier this month, the teenager contacted his family, saying: “I’m being forced to commit fraud by a Chinese crime syndicate in Myanmar. Please help me.”

This led authorities in neighboring Thailand to identify his location and take him into protective custody. He returned to Japan on Feb. 16.

A large-scale rescue effort is now under way to free around 10,000 foreign nationals believed to have been forced to take part in online scams run by a criminal organization in Myawaddy.

The first group of rescued individuals was handed over to Thai authorities on Feb. 12. The group of 260 people came from 20 countries and regions, including Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, China and Brazil.

Thai authorities have asked embassies to facilitate the return of their nationals, but as of Feb. 18, only 46 of the freed hostages had been taken in.

Some of those rescued, including 138 Ethiopians, are from countries that do not have embassies in Thailand, making it unclear when they can be repatriated.

Thai authorities discussed the handover process for the second and later groups of rescued individuals, which is set to begin as early as Feb. 20.

Embassy officials from countries able to receive their nationals will go to a border bridge, where around 250 people will be allowed to leave Myanmar per day.

According to Thai police, the largest group among the 10,000 foreign nationals consists of around 3,700 Chinese.

Liu Zhongyi, China’s assistant minister of public security, inspected the site on Feb. 17.

Chartered flights are being arranged to transport a large number of people back to China.

(This article was written by Toshinari Takahashi, Misato Nara and Eishiro Takeishi, a correspondent in Bangkok.)

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