It is a black out to give a black eye to criminals. Thailand has cut power, fuel and other services to towns and cities across its borders to pull the plug on online and telephone scam centers run by transnational gangs that victimize people in many countries.

The gangs are also involved in human trafficking. They are known for luring people from Thailand and several other countries to come work in their locations with false promises of high-paying jobs. Once there, the victims are held against their will and forced to work scamming innocent people.

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the contracts to supply electricity and other services across the border have clauses that allow the government to cancel them if the negatively affect national security.

“Today, the government said we must stop, because you supply our electricity to those who cause damage to our country,” Anutin said, referring to the power companies involved.

Going dark has already led to going home for some of the victims. The gangs released 261 foreign nationals just days after the power cut and more releases are expected. One town hosting scam operations just across Thailand’s border has become sparsely populated, according to local media reports.

The power cut is just one move the Thai government is taking to put pressure on the transnational gangs and hopefully shut the scam centers down. The government’s tools are limited, however, because the centers are not in Thailand.

Other moves include issuing an arrest warrant for the commander of a border guard force in a neighboring country. The border guard force, an armed group, is not an official part of that country’s armed forces. Its leaders and members sometimes enter Thailand illegally for various purposes through the porous borders.

Thailand has reached out to other groups about the problem and asked for cooperation. Reports are that at least one other armed group across the border has been ordering the gangs to leave their territory, as they don’t want a conflict with Thailand.