Brazilian man trafficked in Myanmar was forced to pose as a Chinese model to commit fraud.

247 - Brazilian Phelipe de Moura Ferreira, 26, spent months under the control of a Chinese mafia in Myanmar, Southeast Asia, where he was forced to pose as a Chinese model to carry out financial scams. In an interview with... The GlobePhelipe detailed the torments he endured during his captivity, including physical and psychological torture. He and another Brazilian, Luckas Viana dos Santos, 31, were freed with the help of the NGO Exodus Road Brasil, which works to rescue victims of human trafficking in the region.

Phelipe recounted that upon arriving at the location where he was being held, he was forced to create a fake profile of a Chinese model to lure victims, mainly Brazilians, through Instagram and WhatsApp. “They said I would spend four days writing the script for the model I would use to scam people. Every day they tortured people. They played very loud Chinese music and took the victims to an HR room where they were beaten. I had a quota to meet. The first was US$5, and before my escape it was at US$10.” k, reported.

The Brazilian was lured by a false job offer, initially presented as a salary of R$2. However, upon arriving in Myanmar, he discovered he had fallen into a human trafficking trap. He was forced to sign a contract that bound him to commissions based on the scams he carried out, without a fixed salary. On three occasions when he failed to meet the targets, Phelipe was punished with squats on a platform with nails. “I received three punishments. The first was to do 100 squats on a kind of platform that had various types of nails. Then, I had to do 300 squats and, on the third, 500,” he said.

Recruitment and torture scheme

Luckas Viana dos Santos, another rescued Brazilian, was also a victim of the same scheme. He was contacted via Telegram with a job offer as an interpreter in Thailand, with a salary of R$ 8 and accommodation. However, upon arrival, he was taken to Myanmar, where his passport was confiscated and he was subjected to forced labor.

According to Cleide Viana, Luckas' mother, he spent five months in prison, forced to participate in online scams, such as cryptocurrency fraud and "love scams," in which criminals impersonated celebrities to extort money from victims. "The prisoners are tortured with electric shocks, forced to hold a 30-liter jug ​​of water for hours. Many have restricted food and work 18 to 20 hours a day," reported Cíntia Meirelles, director of the NGO Exodus Road Brazil.

Escape and repatriation

Phelipe and Luckas managed to escape at 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday, along with 85 other people of different nationalities, following an agreement between the NGO and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an armed group operating in the region. The list of hostages included 373 immigrants, but only a portion were released.

Myanmar has been experiencing a civil war since 2021, which has facilitated the establishment of international criminal groups in the country. Data from the Ministry of Human Rights shows that Brazil registered 126 reports of international human trafficking in 2023. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an alert in January, recommending that Brazilians avoid traveling to Myanmar, especially to conflict zones.