UNODC maps Southeast Asia’s increasingly connected crime economy
UNODC says Southeast Asia’s criminal networks have converged into a shared ecosystem, with Asia-Pacific scam losses reaching US$114.1 billion in 2025.
- A UNODC report reveals that criminal networks in Southeast Asia are forming an interconnected economy, sharing financial infrastructure, specialist services, and resources across borders and different types of crime.
- This criminal economy is shifting from trafficking illegal goods to providing specialized services like cyber-fraud, money laundering, and human trafficking for forced scamming, which rely on common operational channels.
- Despite the growth of cybercrime, drug trafficking remains a primary revenue source, with an estimated annual value of up to $109.7 billion, funding the expansion and integration of these diverse criminal enterprises.
- The networks are expanding their global reach, recruiting scam workers from over 80 countries and using advanced technologies like AI and shared smuggling routes to enhance their interconnected operations.
Transnational criminal networks in Southeast Asia are becoming part of an increasingly interconnected criminal economy, sharing financial infrastructure, specialist services, and operational resources across borders, according to a new United Nations report.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that groups previously confined to particular territories or illicit markets are now expanding into multiple forms of crime while relying on common financial channels, technologies, and service providers.
Criminal activity has shifted from a model centred largely on trafficking illegal commodities towards the sale of specialised services, including cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and the collection and sale of personal data.
Delphine Schantz, UNODC regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, described the emerging structure as resembling “corporate franchising”, with specialist operations supporting several connected criminal markets.
Fraud linked to criminal networks caused estimated losses of between US$88.3 billion and US$114.1 billion across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in 2025. The upper estimate exceeds the gross domestic product of several countries in the region.
Scam compounds recruit victims worldwide
The expansion of the criminal economy has fuelled trafficking in persons for forced criminality, in which victims are recruited or deceived before being compelled to carry out online scams.
People from at least 80 countries and territories have been identified in scam compounds across the region. Recruitment networks have also been documented using several transit hubs in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Communication channels linked to Southeast Asia’s scam industry indicate efforts to broaden recruitment into Europe and North America. Advertisements have sought people with German, Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian, and English-language skills.
UNODC lead analyst Inshik Sim warned that the industry’s growth has created a wider network of supporting services, many operating under the appearance of legitimate businesses. The scale and sophistication of the criminal economy are outpacing responses that were not designed to confront such interconnected operations.
Drug markets remain a major source of criminal revenue
Despite the rapid growth of cyber-enabled crime, drug trafficking remains a major threat across Southeast Asia, with the Golden Triangle continuing to serve as the region’s principal production hub.
UNODC estimated the combined annual retail value of the methamphetamine, ketamine, and heroin markets at between US$75 billion and US$109.7 billion. This revenue gives organised crime groups extensive resources to maintain and expand their operations.
Evidence also points to increased trafficking of synthetic drugs, heroin, and cannabis from Southeast Asia to Africa, Europe, and South Asia, indicating that regional drug markets are becoming more closely linked with criminal operations elsewhere.
Beyond the Golden Triangle, the maritime area formed by the Sulu and Celebes seas has emerged as an increasingly important smuggling corridor.
The route connecting Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines carries large volumes of legitimate traffic, allowing criminal groups to conceal illicit cargo within regular trade flows.
UNODC noted that technology used to support scam operations, including low-Earth-orbit satellite equipment, can also be moved through the tri-border area without detection.
Online gambling increasingly targets young users
The report also examined emerging criminal markets, including illegal gambling, online child sexual exploitation, tobacco-related crime, and firearms trafficking.
UNODC raised particular concern over the use of online casino structures and game-like features to make gambling more appealing to younger users. The combination of addictive designs and easy access through mobile devices creates greater risks for children and young people.
Schantz warned that the distinction between online gaming and online gambling is becoming increasingly unclear as platforms adopt design features that deliberately blur the two activities.
AI and malicious advertising expand fraud risks
Criminal networks are also adopting generative artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and automated fraud systems that require little direct human involvement.
The report highlighted “malvertising”, in which legitimate advertising networks are exploited to distribute malicious software widely and passively. Such incidents increased by 42% year on year in 2025, making the technique an increasingly efficient channel for cybercrime.
UNODC concluded that enforcement strategies focused solely on disrupting individual operations would be insufficient. Authorities also need to strengthen prevention, trace financial flows, and seize criminal proceeds.
The agency called for specialised training to help regional law enforcement bodies identify, seize, and recover assets held through cryptocurrencies. Targeting illicit profits would weaken the networks while increasing public awareness of the financial methods used by organised crime groups.
