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A Chinese judicial body has condemned five prominent individuals of a well-known Myanmar mafia to capital punishment as Chinese authorities maintains its efforts on fraudulent networks in the region.

Altogether, 21 Bai family individuals and collaborators were convicted of fraud, homicide, injury and various crimes, said a official announcement released on the judicial portal.

This clan is among a few of mafias that gained influence in the early 2000s and transformed the impoverished remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable center of casinos and red-light districts.

In recent years they shifted to illegal operations in which thousands of trafficked workers, many of them Chinese, are caught, harmed and compelled to defraud others in criminal activities valued at huge sums.

Specifics of the Judgment

Syndicate leader Bai Suocheng and his offspring Bai Yingcang were among the five figures condemned to capital punishment by the judicial body. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional sentenced.

Two figures of the clan mafia were received conditional death penalties. Several were sentenced to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were given jail sentences between three to 20 years.

The clan, who led their own militia, created 41 facilities to host their cyberscam schemes and gambling houses, authorities said.

Extent of Illegal Schemes

Such unlawful operations involved over 29bn local currency (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). They also led to the demise of several Chinese citizens, the self-inflicted death of one and multiple harm, reports announced.

The strict penalties delivered by the court are part of China's campaign to eliminate the large fraud networks in Southeast Asia - and issue a firm signal to additional unlawful organizations.

Context of the Groups

Such groups became dominant in the recent decades with the support of a military leader - who currently heads the country's junta. He had aimed to prop up associates in Laukkaing after replacing its former warlord.

Among the clans, the Bais were "absolutely number one", Bai Yingcang earlier stated to state media.

During that period, the clan was the dominant in each of the political and armed spheres," he said in a documentary about the Bai family, aired on official channels in July.

In the same documentary, a employee at one of illegal operations recalled the mistreatment he had suffered there: in addition to being hit, he had his fingernails removed with instruments and two of his digits severed with a kitchen knife.

More Accusations

The son is among those who were given to death this week. The individual has also been independently sentenced of organizing to traffic and manufacture a large quantity of illegal drugs, reports reported.

Decline of the Families

Their downfall occurred in 2023 as circumstances shifted.

Over a long period Beijing has urged the Myanmar junta to limit scam operations in Laukkaing.

Recently, the Chinese police announced detention orders for the key individuals of such groups.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's leader, was included in the figures who were transferred to China from the country in early 2024.

"Why is the Chinese government making significant resources to pursue the groups?" a Chinese investigator stated in the summer report.

This serves as a warning groups, regardless of your identity, where you are, if you carry out these heinous offenses against the citizens, you will face consequences."