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One Chinese court has handed down death sentences to five prominent figures of a notorious Myanmar mafia to death as Chinese authorities continues its campaign on scam networks in Southeast Asian region.

In all, 21 Bai family individuals and collaborators were convicted of scams, murder, assault and other offenses, said a official announcement released on the court website.

The group is one of a handful of syndicates that became dominant in the 2000s and changed the underdeveloped isolated region of the town into a profitable center of gambling establishments and red-light districts.

In recent years they shifted to scams in which thousands of illegally moved workers, many of them from China, are caught, mistreated and obligated to cheat victims in criminal operations estimated at billions.

Information of the Judgment

Syndicate head the patriarch and his heir Bai Yingcang were included in the group of individuals condemned to capital punishment by the court in Shenzhen. Yang Liqiang, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the additional convicted.

Two individuals of the Bai family mafia were handed delayed executions. Five were condemned to life in prison, while more figures were given prison terms varying from a period of 3-20 years.

This family, who led their own militia, established forty-one compounds to accommodate their cyberscam operations and betting establishments, government stated.

Magnitude of Criminal Operations

Such criminal enterprises entailed exceeding 29bn local currency ($4.1bn; over three billion pounds). They also resulted in the deaths of several Chinese nationals, the suicide of one and multiple assaults, official sources announced.

The strict punishments issued by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese initiative to eradicate the vast fraud networks in South East Asia - and deliver a firm warning to other unlawful organizations.

Context of the Clans

Such groups became dominant in the early 2000s with the help of a prominent figure - who now leads the country's regime. The leader had wanted to support allies in Laukkaing after replacing its previous warlord.

Among the families, the Bais were "absolutely number one", Bai Yingcang earlier informed official sources.

"At that time, the clan was the leading in each of the government and military spheres," he said in a report about the clan, aired on Chinese state media in the summer.

Within that report, a employee at their fraud facilities narrated the harm he had endured there: besides being assaulted, he had his fingernails removed with tools and a couple of his fingers amputated with a kitchen knife.

Further Accusations

The son is among those who were condemned to death recently. The individual has additionally been independently found guilty of conspiring to traffic and manufacture a large quantity of narcotics, reports reported.

Downfall of the Families

The families' fall came in 2023 as political winds changed.

Over a long period Beijing has encouraged the Myanmar junta to control scam operations in the area.

Last year, the law enforcement announced arrest warrants for the leading members of such clans.

The patriarch, the clan's head, was among the warlords who were transferred to China from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

For what reason is the Chinese government putting significant resources to go after the groups?" a official said in the July report.

"It's to warn individuals, no matter your identity, your base, when you commit such terrible crimes targeting the Chinese people, you will pay the price."