Upon arrival in the town of Myawaddy, one of the main scam centres, James Amunga and two other Kenyans, were shown their rooms and provided with basic personal effects that included mattresses, slippers and bathing soap. After an eight-hour rest, they were briefed about the new roles they were about to take up.

They were frisked, and their phones confiscated but Amunga ingeniously sneaked in one of his devices. And as it would later turn out, that gadget would be his lifeline to freedom.

“I had two phones with me, and when they ordered us to hand them over, I hide one. It was risky but I did it,” he narrated.