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A China's judicial body has handed down death sentences to five prominent individuals of an infamous Myanmar organized crime group to execution as Beijing continues its crackdown on scam activities in South East Asia.

Altogether, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were found guilty of fraud, murder, injury and various crimes, stated a state media announcement posted on the judicial website.

The group is among a few of organized crime groups that became dominant in the early 2000s and transformed the underdeveloped remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable center of casinos and nightlife areas.

Recently they pivoted to fraudulent schemes in which many of smuggled people, many of them from China, are ensnared, mistreated and forced to defraud victims in unlawful enterprises valued at billions.

Details of the Judgment

Syndicate boss Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang were among the five figures sentenced to death by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional convicted.

A couple of individuals of the Bai family mafia were given conditional death penalties. Several were given to life imprisonment, while nine others were handed prison terms between several years to two decades.

The Bais, who led their own militia, set up forty-one compounds to host their digital scam operations and gambling houses, officials reported.

Scale of Unlawful Activities

Such unlawful operations entailed exceeding 29 billion local currency (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). These activities also led to the fatalities of six from China citizens, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple injuries, reports announced.

The harsh punishments issued by the court are part of China's initiative to eliminate the large scam rings in Southeast Asia - and issue a stern warning to additional criminal groups.

Context of the Groups

Such clans rose to power in the 2000s with the help of Min Aung Hlaing - who now leads Myanmar's military government. He had intended to support partners in the town after ousting its previous warlord.

Among the groups, the Bais were "the most powerful", the son before told state media.

Back then, our Bai family was the most powerful in each of the political and military circles," he remarked in a report about the clan, broadcast on Chinese state media in the summer.

Within that documentary, a worker at a fraud facilities recalled the harm he had suffered there: besides being beaten, he had his nails extracted with instruments and a couple of his digits severed with a blade.

More Accusations

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were condemned to death this week. The individual has additionally been separately found guilty of organizing to traffic and produce 11 tonnes of methamphetamine, reports stated.

Downfall of the Groups

The families' downfall occurred in 2023 as political winds changed.

For years Beijing has pressed the Myanmar junta to control scam activities in the area.

Last year, the authorities released detention orders for the leading members of such clans.

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

"Why is the state making so much effort to go after the groups?" a Chinese investigator stated in the July documentary.

The purpose is to caution groups, no matter who you are, your base, if you commit such heinous crimes targeting the nationals, you will pay the price."