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One Chinese court has sentenced several prominent figures of an infamous Myanmar organized crime group to death as Beijing continues its efforts on scam operations in South East Asia.

Altogether, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were sentenced of fraud, homicide, injury and additional crimes, said a state media report posted on the judicial portal.

The family is among a few of organized crime groups that became dominant in the last two decades and transformed the underdeveloped backwater town of Laukkaing into a lucrative hub of casinos and entertainment zones.

Over the past few years they pivoted to scams in which thousands of smuggled individuals, a large number of them from China, are caught, abused and obligated to scam others in criminal activities worth huge sums.

Details of the Judgment

Syndicate head the patriarch and his offspring the younger Bai were among the group of men condemned to capital punishment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the other three sentenced.

Two members of the clan mafia were received delayed executions. Several were given to permanent incarceration, while nine others were received jail terms ranging from several years to two decades.

The Bais, who led their own private army, established forty-one bases to house their cyberscam operations and betting establishments, officials reported.

Scale of Criminal Operations

Such unlawful operations included more than 29 billion yuan (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). These activities also caused the deaths of several from China nationals, the suicide of one and several assaults, state media reported.

The harsh penalties issued by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese campaign to eradicate the vast fraud networks in South East Asia - and deliver a stern signal to additional illegal syndicates.

Background of the Groups

Such clans rose to power in the recent decades with the assistance of a prominent figure - who is in charge of Myanmar's junta. He had intended to prop up allies in the town after ousting its previous warlord.

Among the groups, the this family were "the most powerful", the son earlier told state media.

"At that time, our Bai family was the leading in both the political and military spheres," he stated in a film about the Bai family, aired on official channels in the summer.

In the same film, a individual at a fraud facilities recalled the abuse he had experienced at the location: besides being beaten, he had his nails yanked out with tools and two of his digits cut off with a blade.

Further Accusations

Bai Yingcang is among those who were given to death this week. He has also been separately sentenced of conspiring to traffic and make 11 tonnes of narcotics, state media stated.

Downfall of the Groups

The families' fall happened in 2023 as circumstances altered.

Previously Beijing has urged the Myanmar junta to control fraudulent operations in Laukkaing.

In 2023, the authorities released arrest warrants for the most prominent individuals of such groups.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's leader, was included in the warlords who were transferred to China from Myanmar in recent months.

"Why is the authorities putting so much effort to go after the four families?" a Chinese investigator stated in the summer documentary.

The purpose is to caution individuals, no matter your position, your location, if you engage in these heinous offenses targeting the Chinese people, you will pay the price."