South African authorities sent a clear message to international criminals this past week with the successful extradition of two high-profile fugitives to their respective home countries. Benjamin Leslie May, a British drug dealer, and Fujia Chen, a Chinese national wanted for massive fraud, have both been removed from the country to face trial abroad.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional communications manager in the Western Cape Eric Ntabazalila says May was extradited to the United Kingdom on 28 January.
“He is wanted there for his role in a large-scale syndicate that imported and distributed Class A drugs (cocaine). May was allegedly a key figure who used encrypted ‘EncroChat’ devices under aliases such as ‘illusivebone’ and ‘splitcactus’ to coordinate the distribution of drugs.”
His fingerprints were found on bags containing 6kg of cocaine, and he fled Britain in June 2020 shortly after the arrest of a courier. After fleeing to Cape Town via France, he was arrested in February 2025. The state successfully opposed his bail by highlighting his history of absconding and his use of illegal methods including manipulating his passport details to remain in South Africa. The court ultimately found that it was not in the interest of justice to release him.
In a separate success, Interpol in South Africa handed over 63-year-old Fujia Chen to a Chinese delegation om 30 January.
A total of 11 of these individuals have already been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list. – Brig. Athlenda Mathe
SAPS spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe SAPS says Chen is accused of defrauding the Chinese government of approximately R120 million by operating an unregistered foreign currency exchange business.
Chen fled to South Africa in 2021 after his accomplices had been arrested in China. His years of hiding came to an end when he recently attempted to apply for a US visa. He was in custody for six months before the extradition order was granted on 20 January 2026. He was put on a flight back to China to stand trial.
“During the handover of Chen, Lt Gen. Khosi Senthumule confirmed that the police were tracking another 18 Chinese fugitives believed to be hiding in South Africa. A total of 11 of these individuals have already been placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list,” she says.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that China has carried out the execution of 11 high-ranking members of the Ming crime family, a notorious Myanmar-based mafia that orchestrated a billion-pound global scam empire.
The executions, carried out in the city of Wenzhou, follow a crackdown on “telecom fraud” operations that targeted victims worldwide, including in the UK and US.
Between 2015 and 2023, the Ming family’s operations centered in the lawless border town of Laukkaing, Myanmar, amassed more than 10 billion yuan (R21 billion). They specialised in sophisticated “pig butchering” scams, luring victims into fake online romances and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments.
The clan was convicted of massive financial fraud and intentional homicide, unlawful detention, and torture. Their “scam compounds,” such as the infamous Crouching Tiger Villa, were reportedly sites of extreme violence against trafficked workers forced to conduct the scams.
The family’s grip on power collapsed in late 2023 when they were detained and handed over to Chinese authorities by local ethnic militias. The clan leader, Ming Xuechang, reportedly took his own life to avoid capture.
