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A Chinese court has condemned a group of leading members of a well-known Burmese mafia to execution as Chinese authorities persists in its crackdown on fraudulent activities in South East Asia.

Altogether, 21 Bai family members and associates were found guilty of scams, homicide, assault and additional crimes, reported a official document posted on the judicial portal.

This clan is among a handful of organized crime groups that rose to power in the 2000s and changed the poor isolated region of the town into a profitable center of casinos and nightlife areas.

Over the past few years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of smuggled workers, many of them from China, are ensnared, abused and compelled to cheat targets in unlawful activities valued at billions of dollars.

Specifics of the Sentencing

Mafia leader Bai Suocheng and his offspring the younger Bai were among the several men condemned to execution by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the remaining convicted.

A couple of figures of the Bai family syndicate were given conditional death penalties. Five were condemned to life in prison, while more figures were handed prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years.

This family, who commanded their own militia, created 41 compounds to accommodate their cyberscam activities and casinos, government said.

Magnitude of Unlawful Schemes

These criminal enterprises involved exceeding 29bn Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). These activities also led to the demise of six from China nationals, the suicide of one and multiple assaults, official sources reported.

The harsh penalties handed down by the judicial body are within China's effort to eradicate the large scam rings in Southeast Asia - and send a strong message to additional criminal groups.

History of the Groups

These families gained influence in the early 2000s with the help of a prominent figure - who now leads Myanmar's regime. The leader had intended to support partners in Laukkaing after ousting its earlier warlord.

Among the clans, the Bais were "the top", Bai Yingcang previously told official sources.

During that period, the clan was the leading in both the government and armed circles," the individual stated in a film about the clan, aired on official channels in July.

In the same film, a employee at one of fraud facilities recalled the harm he had experienced at the location: besides being hit, he had his fingernails yanked out with tools and a couple of his digits cut off with a blade.

More Charges

The son is among those who were sentenced to death in the latest ruling. The individual has also been independently sentenced of conspiring to smuggle and make 11 tonnes of narcotics, official sources announced.

End of the Groups

The families' downfall happened in 2023 as circumstances changed.

Over a long period Beijing has pressed the regime to limit scam activities in the area.

In 2023, the law enforcement issued detention orders for the leading individuals of such clans.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's patriarch, was among the figures who were extradited to China from Myanmar in early 2024.

"Why is the Chinese government putting significant resources to pursue the clans?" a official commented in the July documentary.

"It's to warn individuals, regardless of your position, where you are, if you commit these serious acts affecting the Chinese people, you will pay the price."