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A China's judicial body has sentenced five leading members of an infamous Myanmar organized crime group to capital punishment as Beijing maintains its efforts on fraudulent networks in the region.

Overall, 21 Bai family figures and partners were found guilty of scams, murder, injury and other crimes, said a official announcement published on the judicial website.

This clan is one of a small number of mafias that became dominant in the early 2000s and changed the underdeveloped backwater town of Laukkaing into a lucrative center of casinos and nightlife areas.

Over the past few years they turned to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of illegally moved individuals, a large number of them Chinese, are trapped, abused and compelled to cheat victims in unlawful activities valued at billions of dollars.

Information of the Verdict

Syndicate boss the patriarch and his heir the younger Bai were included in the five individuals sentenced to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the other three convicted.

A couple of figures of the Bai family mafia were given conditional death penalties. Five were given to life in prison, while nine others were handed prison sentences between several years to two decades.

The Bais, who controlled their own armed group, set up 41 bases to house their digital scam activities and gambling houses, government said.

Extent of Unlawful Activities

These criminal activities included over 29bn local currency (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). These activities also resulted in the deaths of several Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and numerous injuries, official sources stated.

The severe sentences issued by the judicial body are within the Chinese effort to eradicate the vast fraud rings in South East Asia - and send a strong warning to other criminal groups.

Context of the Clans

Such families gained influence in the early 2000s with the assistance of Min Aung Hlaing - who is in charge of the country's junta. The leader had wanted to support allies in Laukkaing after removing its earlier warlord.

Within the families, the Bais were "absolutely number one", the son previously stated to state media.

Back then, the clan was the most powerful in each of the government and armed arenas," the individual stated in a report about the Bai family, broadcast on national media in the summer.

Within that documentary, a employee at their fraud facilities recalled the abuse he had endured at the location: besides being hit, he had his fingernails extracted with tools and two of his fingers amputated with a blade.

Further Charges

The son is among those who were sentenced to death in the latest ruling. The individual has also been independently convicted of planning to trade and manufacture a large quantity of methamphetamine, state media stated.

Downfall of the Clans

Their end occurred in last year as political winds altered.

Over a long period Beijing has encouraged the Myanmar junta to limit fraudulent activities in the area.

In 2023, the law enforcement issued arrest warrants for the most prominent figures of such groups.

The patriarch, the clan's leader, was included in the warlords who were handed to China from Myanmar in early 2024.

For what reason is the authorities putting such extensive work to pursue the four families?" a expert commented in the July documentary.

The purpose is to caution individuals, regardless of your position, your base, as long as you carry out such heinous offenses against the nationals, you will pay the price."