Soon after the travel ban was imposed, Zhao was invited by the
government of Laos to invest in
Bokeo Province. In early October 2020, a US$50 million dollar investment to build a
port in the Laotian town of Ban Mom, directly north of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, was made by Osiano Trading Sole Co., a partner or front company of Zhao Wei and his organization. The
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has raised concerns about Laos being used by organized crime to traffic drugs, precursor chemicals, and other illicit commodities, and that the purchase of the Ban Mom port is representative of organized crime infiltrating infrastructure in the region. The Ban Mom port is on a remote stretch of the
Mekong which has been confirmed as a smuggling route for trafficking drugs and precursor chemicals into and out of the Golden Triangle. In recent years the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone has become closely associated with the spread of cyber-enabled fraud and online gambling operations. In 2023, the United Kingdom sanctioned Zhao Wei under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 on the grounds that he is responsible for, supported and obtained benefit from activity which violates the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, or right to be free from slavery, not to be held in servitude or required to perform forced or compulsory labour. This related specifically to trafficking of people into the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, where they were “forced to work as scammers targeting English-speaking individuals and subject to physical abuse and further cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment.” One of these entities was Shuen Wai Holding, registered in Hong Kong at the same address used for registration of Zhao Wei’s Kings Romans International in 2009. The UNODC has also noted that Zhao Wei and his organization have expanded their operations to neighbouring countries including Cambodia in recent years. It also reported connections between Zhao Wei and alleged criminal actors operating from the Isle of Man, including one unnamed company whose offices were raided in April 2024 by Isle of Man constabulary in connection to a wider fraud and money laundering investigation. == Personal life ==