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A China's judicial body has sentenced a group of prominent members of a well-known Burmese organized crime group to capital punishment as Beijing maintains its campaign on scam operations in South East Asia.

Altogether, 21 Bai family figures and partners were sentenced of fraud, homicide, injury and various crimes, said a state media document published on the court portal.

The group is one of a handful of syndicates that became dominant in the early 2000s and transformed the underdeveloped isolated region of the town into a profitable center of casinos and entertainment zones.

Over the past few years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of trafficked people, many of them from China, are caught, abused and compelled to defraud victims in unlawful operations valued at billions.

Information of the Verdict

Mafia boss Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang were among the five figures sentenced to capital punishment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the other three convicted.

A couple of individuals of the Bai family syndicate were handed delayed executions. Five were given to permanent incarceration, while more figures were handed prison sentences ranging from a period of 3-20 years.

This family, who commanded their own militia, set up 41 facilities to host their online fraud activities and gambling houses, government reported.

Extent of Unlawful Activities

Such illegal operations entailed more than 29 billion Chinese yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1 billion). These activities also caused the demise of several Chinese citizens, the suicide of one and numerous assaults, reports stated.

The strict penalties issued by the court are within the Chinese campaign to eliminate the extensive scam networks in the region - and deliver a strong warning to additional illegal syndicates.

Context of the Clans

Such groups gained influence in the early 2000s with the help of Min Aung Hlaing - who currently heads Myanmar's regime. The leader had intended to prop up associates in Laukkaing after ousting its former ruler.

Within the clans, the Bais were "the most powerful", the son previously informed official sources.

"At that time, we was the leading in both the political and military arenas," he said in a documentary about the Bai family, shown on national media in July.

In the same report, a worker at a their scam centres narrated the mistreatment he had endured at the location: besides being beaten, he had his fingernails removed with instruments and a couple of his digits cut off with a tool.

Further Charges

The son is included in those who were condemned to death in the latest ruling. The individual has also been independently convicted of organizing to smuggle and make eleven tons of illegal drugs, official sources announced.

Decline of the Clans

Their downfall occurred in last year as political winds changed.

For years Beijing has pressed the Myanmar junta to limit scam operations in Laukkaing.

In 2023, the Chinese police released detention orders for the leading individuals of such clans.

The patriarch, the clan's head, was among the figures who were extradited to Beijing from the country in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the state putting such extensive work to pursue the groups?" a official said in the July documentary.

This serves as a warning individuals, no matter your identity, your base, if you commit such serious acts against the Chinese people, you will pay the price."