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A Chinese judicial body has sentenced a group of top figures of an infamous Burmese mafia to execution as Beijing persists in its campaign on scam networks in the region.

Altogether, 21 clan figures and partners were sentenced of scams, homicide, assault and various offenses, stated a state media announcement published on the court website.

This clan is one of a small number of organized crime groups that became dominant in the 2000s and converted the poor remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable center of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

Recently they shifted to scams in which many of smuggled people, many of them from China, are caught, mistreated and compelled to defraud targets in illegal operations worth billions of dollars.

Information of the Sentencing

Syndicate leader the patriarch and his son Bai Yingcang were included in the several men sentenced to capital punishment by the court in Shenzhen. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the other three punished.

A couple of members of the Bai family mafia were handed suspended death sentences. Five were condemned to permanent incarceration, while more figures were received prison sentences ranging from a period of 3-20 years.

The clan, who led their own armed group, established 41 compounds to host their cyberscam activities and gambling houses, authorities said.

Scale of Unlawful Activities

These illegal operations entailed more than twenty-nine billion yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). These activities also caused the demise of several Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple assaults, reports stated.

The severe penalties issued by the judicial body are part of the Chinese initiative to remove the large fraud networks in Southeast Asia - and deliver a strong warning to further criminal groups.

Background of the Groups

These families became dominant in the early 2000s with the help of a military leader - who currently heads the country's military government. He had aimed to bolster associates in Laukkaing after ousting its previous ruler.

Within the groups, the Bais were "the most powerful", the son previously stated to state media.

"At that time, we was the most powerful in each of the political and military spheres," the individual stated in a report about the clan, shown on official channels in the summer.

In the same film, a individual at a fraud facilities recalled the abuse he had endured there: besides being hit, he had his fingernails removed with pliers and two of his digits amputated with a kitchen knife.

More Accusations

Bai Yingcang is among those who were given to execution in the latest ruling. The individual has also been independently sentenced of planning to traffic and manufacture 11 tonnes of narcotics, state media announced.

Downfall of the Clans

The families' end occurred in recent times as political winds changed.

Over a long period Beijing has urged the Myanmar junta to limit fraudulent operations in the area.

Last year, the law enforcement announced arrest warrants for the key members of such families.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's patriarch, was among the warlords who were extradited to China from the country in early 2024.

"Why is the state making significant resources to target the four families?" a official commented in the July documentary.

This serves as a warning groups, regardless of who you are, where you are, when you commit such heinous acts affecting the citizens, you will pay the price."