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A Chinese judicial body has sentenced a group of leading individuals of an infamous Burmese organized crime group to execution as Chinese authorities persists in its crackdown on scam operations in South East Asia.

Overall, 21 Bai family figures and partners were convicted of fraud, murder, injury and various crimes, said a state media report posted on the judicial portal.

The family is one of a few of syndicates that rose to power in the 2000s and transformed the impoverished backwater town of Laukkaing into a profitable center of casinos and red-light districts.

Over the past few years they shifted to illegal operations in which thousands of smuggled people, several of them from China, are ensnared, mistreated and compelled to scam others in illegal operations valued at billions.

Information of the Verdict

Syndicate leader Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang were included in the several men condemned to death by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the remaining convicted.

A couple of figures of the Bai family mafia were handed delayed executions. Five were sentenced to life in prison, while more figures were given jail sentences varying from several years to two decades.

The Bais, who controlled their own private army, created 41 bases to accommodate their cyberscam operations and gambling houses, authorities said.

Scale of Unlawful Activities

Such criminal operations involved exceeding 29 billion Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). They also resulted in the demise of six from China nationals, the self-inflicted death of one and numerous assaults, reports reported.

The strict punishments issued by the court are within the Chinese initiative to eliminate the large fraud operations in Southeast Asia - and issue a stern message to other illegal groups.

Background of the Groups

Such groups gained influence in the early 2000s with the assistance of a prominent figure - who now leads Myanmar's junta. He had wanted to bolster partners in Laukkaing after replacing its previous ruler.

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

During that period, our Bai family was the leading in each of the government and armed circles," the individual remarked in a film about the Bai family, shown on national media in the summer.

In the same documentary, a worker at one of fraud facilities described the harm he had suffered there: in addition to being hit, he had his fingernails extracted with instruments and two of his digits severed with a blade.

Further Charges

The son is included in those who were given to death this week. The individual has also been separately sentenced of organizing to smuggle and manufacture 11 tonnes of narcotics, official sources reported.

End of the Clans

Their end occurred in 2023 as political winds changed.

Over a long period Beijing has pressed the local government to limit fraudulent schemes in the area.

In 2023, the law enforcement announced arrest warrants for the most prominent members of these groups.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's head, was among the warlords who were extradited to Beijing from the country in recent months.

For what reason is the Chinese government making such extensive work to target the groups?" a expert commented in the July documentary.

The purpose is to caution other people, no matter who you are, your base, when you carry out such terrible offenses affecting the nationals, you will pay the price."