Some of the world's most serious human rights abuses happen in places deliberately hidden from public view. Criminal networks use remote locations, fortified compounds, and rapidly changing infrastructure to conceal modern slavery and human trafficking operations from authorities. Bringing those activities into view is an important step toward accountability.
Since 2020, Vantor has partnered with the International Justice Mission (IJM) through our Purpose Partner Program to help support the organization's mission of protecting people from violence, modern slavery, and human trafficking. As part of the partnership, IJM receives a complimentary subscription to Vantor™ Hub, providing access to Vantor’s archival and near real-time satellite imagery that helps investigators better understand locations linked to suspected human rights abuses.
Using Spatial Intelligence for Justice
Commercial satellite imagery has become an important tool to combat modern slavery while strengthening justice systems to hold perpetrators accountable.
Using Vantor imagery, IJM analysts can remotely examine locations associated with suspected exploitation and look for visual indicators commonly associated with forced labor and trafficking activities. While satellite imagery alone cannot prove exploitation, it provides valuable corroborating evidence that strengthens investigations and supports broader efforts to pursue justice.
In Southeast Asia, IJM has used Vantor imagery to investigate large-scale scam compounds linked to human trafficking and forced labor. These facilities—often embedded within rapidly expanding commercial developments or repurposed casino and resort complexes—can house thousands of victims forced to participate in cyber-enabled fraud operations.
Satellite imagery enables analysts to monitor changes over time and identify characteristics consistent with these compounds, including restricted access points, perimeter walls, clustered living quarters, communications infrastructure, and ongoing construction that may indicate expansion or relocation. By combining imagery with other sources of information, investigators can build a more complete understanding of how these criminal networks operate and adapt.
IJM tracks the progression of an alleged scam compound in Myanmar using archival imagery from December 2025 and a recent satellite image from April 2026.
Supporting Investigative Journalism
Vantor imagery has also helped inform public reporting on the evolution of these trafficking networks. Through Vantor’s News Bureau, we provide free imagery for investigative journalism and reporting.
At the end of 2025, IJM closely monitored the closure and demolition of Myanmar's notorious KK Park scam compound. Satellite imagery from Vantor was featured in a WIRED investigation documenting the site's destruction and examining how criminal organizations were shifting operations elsewhere.
Subsequent reporting by the Associated Press and FRONTLINE, produced in collaboration with IJM, revealed that organized cybercrime syndicates have rapidly established new fortified compounds across Myanmar following crackdowns on existing sites. The investigation identified at least 25 new or significantly expanded scam compounds since late 2025. Using Vantor satellite imagery alongside other investigative methods, including device activity analysis, reporters documented how these operations continue to evolve despite increased international attention.
These investigations underscore an important reality: dismantling a single trafficking site is only part of the challenge. Criminal networks often relocate and rebuild, making continuous monitoring critical to understanding how these operations change over time.
Before and after satellite imagery shows the rapid construction of a suspected scam compound linked to human trafficking and forced labor on the Thai-Myanmar border between January and April 2026.
Purpose Through Partnership
At Vantor, we believe spatial intelligence anchored to a trusted ground truth and delivered in near real-time can help people make better decisions about our changing world. Through partnerships like our work with the International Justice Mission, those capabilities extend beyond business and government applications to support organizations working to protect vulnerable communities and advance human rights.
While satellite imagery is one piece to solving global social challenges, it can provide critical situational awareness that helps reveal patterns, document change over time, and strengthen the evidence available to investigators, journalists, and justice partners. Because when hidden places become visible, opportunities for accountability become possible.
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