Criminal groups based in Southeast Asia are using increasingly integrated networks and technologies to create a rapidly growing illegal economy with tentacles reaching far beyond Asia, with fraud schemes alone causing total losses of between $88.3 and $114.1 billion in 2025, according to a UN report, UNN reports citing AP.
Details
The report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) describes how transnational crime, previously concentrated in Southeast Asia, has spread to other regions, while global criminal groups are increasingly involved in drug, human, and wildlife trafficking in Asia.
Criminals are using new technologies to launder money through global financial systems and using artificial intelligence to steal from victims worldwide, according to the report published on Tuesday.
Children are at increasing risk
One of the key findings of the report is the threat to children from both AI and online gaming, as hundreds of fraud schemes scattered across Southeast Asia provide platforms for human trafficking for sexual exploitation and the sale of child sexual abuse material.
"There is a huge increase in the number of AI-generated sexual images involving children... transmitted through encrypted communication platforms," said Inshik Sim, researcher and coordinator of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, at a briefing.
East Asian criminal syndicates are doing business using malware, generative AI, and deepfakes for sextortion and sexual exploitation, increasing the risks of in-person violence, as well as the broadcasting of violence and grooming of victims in live streams. In addition to direct human trafficking for the sex industry, victims may be sold into domestic servitude, forced begging, and forced labor, among other forms of exploitation, the report says.
Social media, online gaming, and gambling also pose a danger to children, the report notes, citing surveys showing that hundreds of children and adolescents across Southeast Asia are involved in online gambling, some to the point of addiction.
Drug, arms, tobacco, and wildlife trafficking
The report estimates the total annual sales of illegal drugs in Southeast Asia and neighboring countries at $109 billion, with seizures of illegal shipments rising sharply. This includes methamphetamine, heroin, and ketamine.
It states that the maritime Sulu-Sulawesi "triangle" between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines is becoming an increasingly important corridor for cocaine supplies from Latin America to Asia, with illegal cargo sometimes hidden in legal shipments such as Chinese tea.
The report also says that the area is often used for smuggling wildlife and small arms.
Meanwhile, Thailand and Vietnam are increasingly becoming sources of cannabis supplied to Japan, where it is banned, and to Europe, the report says.
Money laundering and other tools support criminal activities
The report describes how cross-border financial and technological networks support what it calls a "criminal services infrastructure" that facilitates global organized crime.
Tools used include cryptocurrency, encrypted and private communication platforms, and generative AI to create convincing phishing content, deploy deepfake videos, and make real-time voice calls. Using AI-based translations, they can simultaneously target victims in multiple languages, the report says.
Satellite communications also allow fraud groups to operate in remote or heavily monitored locations.
To counter this growing criminal ecosystem, authorities need a coordinated cross-border strategy that integrates law enforcement measures in the areas of data, communications, and financial systems, as well as online services and trading platforms, the report says.
Tough measures are forcing fraud centers to move offshore and go underground.
After authorities from Thailand, China, and other countries conducted raids on large fraud centers located mainly in the border regions of Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, criminals responded by moving to other parts of the world or operating on a smaller scale.
"They were destroyed, but none of the operations stopped," said Son Jae Shin, an analyst and counter-terrorism officer at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.