Perhaps the most infamous Gray Zone in the world is the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) in Laos, controlled by Chinese businessman Zhao Wei – a figure sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department for:

• Human trafficking
• Child sexual exploitation
• Wildlife trafficking
• Drug trafficking
• Money laundering
• Corruption
• Forced labor in cyber-scam centers
• Operating brothels and casinos tied to transnational crime

(Source: U.S. Treasury Dept. sanctions SM0272)

How Criminal Figures Like Zhao Wei Acquire Land and Create Gray Zones

The pattern is consistent across Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia:

Step 1: Criminal investors approach weak or corrupt governments.

Zhao Wei’s company negotiated a 99-year lease inside Laos’ borders. Governments — often cash-strapped or politically isolated — grant enormous land concessions in exchange for:

• “Foreign direct investment”
• Infrastructure promises (roads, ports, casinos)
• Private security assistance
• Direct or indirect bribes

These concessions effectively carve out a state within a state.

Step 2: The developer builds a casino, SEZ, or “resort.”

It appears legitimate: casinos, hotels, entertainment, export zones.

But casinos on remote borders are perfect laundromats for:

• Drug money
• Wildlife smuggling revenue
• Prostitution profits
• Human trafficking fees
• Fraud and cyber-scam proceeds

Casinos often become the economic engine for crime.

[Image] Zhao Wei’s Kings Romans Chinese casino inside Laos at the Golden Triangle where Thailand-Laos-Myanmar borders meet. (photo credit: AFP)

Step 3: Criminal networks flood in under official protection.

Inside the concession, local police cannot enter without permission.

This enables:

• Private militia
• Armed guards
• Border-free movement
• Detention centers for trafficked victims
• Illegal prisons used to hold forced workers

Laws are suspended. Criminal sovereignty takes over.

Step 4: The zone expands into forced labor & cyber-scam slavery.

Cyber-scam compounds in Laos and Myanmar now force tens of thousands into:

• 18–20-hour scam shifts
• Beatings
• Electric torture
• Sexual exploitation
• Organ harvesting if they attempt escape

Not For Sale has rescued people from these cyber-scam centers, one was given the option to have an organ taken in exchange for their freedom.

Step 5: Revenue from illegal mining finances expansion.

Illegal gold mining in Myanmar and Laos, often run by the same networks that run cyber compounds drives:

• River poisoning
• Mercury contamination
• Deforestation
• Displacement

Illegal mining becomes the financial backbone for further Gray Zone expansion.

The Illegal Activities Driving Gray Zones

Human Trafficking & Sexual Exploitation

• Child trafficking
• Sex trafficking
• Sexual exploitation in brothels inside SEZs

Forced Labor & Debt Bondage

• Cyber-scam forced labor
• Domestic servitude
• Construction slavery
• Factory exploitation

Forced Criminality

Victims are forced to perpetrate:

• Online scams
• Crypto fraud
• Financial crimes

Illegal Mining 

• Rare-earth mining
• Gold mining
• Toxic-waste pollution
• Armed militia control

Wildlife Trafficking

• Illegal wildlife markets
• Exotic meat farms
• Tiger parts, pangolin scales, ivory

Drug Trafficking

The Golden Triangle remains a global center for methamphetamine and heroin.

Organ Trafficking

Victims who resist forced cyber or sex work are threatened with organ removal.

Money Laundering

Billions flow through casinos, crypto exchanges, and underground banks.

Why Gray Zones Are Expanding: The Political & Economic Logic

Gray Zones emerge where three forces converge:

1. Weak or corrupt governance

Governments gain revenue, political loyalty, or personal enrichment.

2. Organized crime seeking territorial control

Criminal syndicates prefer legal ambiguity over outright conflict.

3. Global demand for high-profit crimes

From cyber scams to rare-earth minerals to wildlife products, demand is rising.

The result:
A multinational criminal economy hiding inside legitimate structures.

Why Gray Zone Criminal Activity Matters

Gray Zones are not a fringe phenomenon.

They are becoming the new model for organized crime worldwide.

And because they blend capital, corruption, and coercion, the only way to dismantle them is through:

• Survivor protection
• Systemic economic alternatives
• International exposure & Gray Zone eradication
• Ecocide and environmental intervention
• Coordinated cross-border action

This is the work Not For Sale has been doing for nearly two decades and will continue doing so, even as Gray Zones expand.