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One Chinese judicial body has handed down death sentences to a group of top individuals of a notorious Burmese organized crime group to capital punishment as Chinese authorities maintains its campaign on scam networks in South East Asia.

Overall, twenty-one Bai family members and associates were convicted of scams, homicide, assault and additional offenses, said a state media report posted on the court website.

This clan is one of a few of organized crime groups that gained influence in the 2000s and transformed the poor isolated region of Laukkaing into a wealthy base of gambling establishments and red-light districts.

Recently they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of trafficked individuals, several of them Chinese, are caught, abused and forced to scam others in unlawful operations worth huge sums.

Information of the Judgment

Mafia leader the patriarch and his son Bai Yingcang were included in the group of men condemned to capital punishment by the judicial body. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the other three convicted.

A couple of individuals of the clan mafia were handed suspended death sentences. Five were given to life imprisonment, while nine others were handed jail terms between three to 20 years.

This family, who led their own militia, established 41 facilities to house their cyberscam activities and gambling houses, officials said.

Magnitude of Illegal Activities

Such illegal activities involved exceeding 29bn yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1bn). They also led to the deaths of several from China individuals, the suicide of an individual and numerous assaults, state media stated.

The severe penalties delivered by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese initiative to eliminate the extensive fraud rings in Southeast Asia - and send a strong signal to further illegal groups.

History of the Clans

Such families gained influence in the recent decades with the support of Min Aung Hlaing - who is in charge of Myanmar's military government. The leader had wanted to support partners in the town after replacing its previous leader.

Within the families, the this family were "absolutely number one", Bai Yingcang before informed state media.

Back then, our Bai family was the dominant in each of the government and military circles," he stated in a documentary about the Bai family, broadcast on national media in the summer.

Within that report, a individual at their fraud facilities described the mistreatment he had endured there: besides being assaulted, he had his nails yanked out with tools and a couple of his fingers amputated with a blade.

Additional Accusations

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were sentenced to execution recently. The individual has also been separately sentenced of planning to trade and produce 11 tonnes of methamphetamine, official sources stated.

Downfall of the Groups

Their end came in recent times as political winds changed.

Over a long period Beijing has encouraged the regime to control fraudulent activities in the area.

In 2023, the Chinese police released detention orders for the key members of these families.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's head, was among the figures who were transferred to Beijing from Myanmar in recent months.

"Why is the Chinese government putting such extensive work to go after the clans?" a Chinese investigator commented in the July documentary.

This serves as a warning individuals, no matter who you are, where you are, when you commit these terrible crimes against the citizens, you will pay the price."