In a development that has drawn international attention, Adam Castillo, the former president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Myanmar and founder of a prominent local security firm, has been taken into custody shortly after arriving at Yangon International Airport. The detention comes as AMCHAM Myanmar conducts an internal investigation into suspicious financial activity linked to former board members of the organization.
An anonymous associate of Castillo, who requested anonymity out of fear for personal safety, confirmed to the Associated Press that the 41-year-old U.S. national was detained on Thursday. Castillo, who leads AGS Myanmar — a risk management and security firm that also offers commercial cleaning and pest control services — has not issued any public response to the detention, and his company declined to elaborate on the situation beyond calling it an “ongoing matter”. Messages sent to Castillo via his personal website also went unanswered.
U.S. State Department officials have confirmed they are aware of reports of the American citizen’s detention, but declined to provide further details, citing privacy protections for U.S. nationals abroad. Myanmar’s military-backed ruling administration, which has faced widespread international isolation since its 2021 coup and has limited communication with international media amid the ongoing civil conflict, has not released any official statement regarding Castillo’s arrest. Requests for comment from Myanmar’s central government, the Yangon regional administration, and the Yangon Regional Police Department went unanswered. Multiple military-aligned local media outlets, including NP News, have reported that the arrest followed a formal complaint filed against Castillo by AMCHAM Myanmar. Castillo led the organization, which advocates for American business interests operating in Myanmar, from 2023 through early 2025.
When contacted for comment on the complaint, AMCHAM Myanmar’s executive director Myat Phyu The declined to share specific details of the case, but directed reporters to the chamber’s May 29 annual report, which addresses the ongoing investigation. According to the document, the current AMCHAM board discovered questionable transactions carried out by former board representatives last year, and immediately turned the matter over to an independent law firm for forensic review.
The investigation uncovered that an unnamed former board representative signed a November 2024 contract with a Washington D.C.-based public relations firm. The firm paid $300,000 in connection with the deal, and the full sum was collected and disbursed outside of AMCHAM Myanmar’s official financial accounts. The annual report notes that the unauthorized signature exceeded the formal signing authority granted to individual board members, and the full board never approved the agreement. “AMCHAM Myanmar received no funds, made no payments, and received no services, and the matter was not disclosed to the statutory auditors,” the report reads.
While the report confirms that two former board members are involved in the suspicious activity, it does not name either individual nor outline what internal legal or disciplinary actions the chamber has pursued to date. Myat Phyu The also declined to elaborate on details beyond what is included in the public report. In a June 12 statement posted to the organization’s official website, the AMCHAM board said it “has taken appropriate steps to safeguard the interests of the organization and its members.”
Myanmar has been engulfed in widespread armed conflict since the military seized power from the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup. After the junta violently crushed peaceful mass protests against the takeover, pro-democracy guerrilla groups and ethnic minority militias launched a widespread armed resistance movement that has left much of the country divided and mired in ongoing violence. Since the coup, authorities have increasingly detained foreign nationals, most frequently foreign reporters covering the country’s political and humanitarian crisis.
Public profiles on AGS Myanmar’s website list Castillo as a former U.S. Marine Corps officer who completed active duty tours in Afghanistan. He also currently serves as chair of Republican Overseas Myanmar, a group founded in 2024 that works to promote former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy agenda across Myanmar and the broader Southeast Asian region.
It remains unclear where Castillo traveled before his return to Yangon, but social media posts to his public Instagram account show he attended a business forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, just one day before his arrest, where he promoted his recently published memoir. Castillo’s book, titled *Finding Our Voice*, chronicles his personal experiences living and working in Myanmar through the political upheaval, rising violence, and economic collapse that followed the 2021 military takeover. It is not yet known whether the publication of the memoir is connected to his detention.