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One China's judicial body has sentenced a group of leading members of a notorious Myanmar mafia to execution as Beijing maintains its crackdown on scam networks in South East Asia.

In all, 21 Bai family figures and partners were found guilty of fraud, homicide, injury and various offenses, stated a state media document posted on the court portal.

The group is among a handful of mafias that gained influence in the last two decades and converted the poor backwater town of Laukkaing into a profitable hub of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

In recent years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of trafficked people, several of them Chinese, are caught, harmed and forced to scam others in criminal operations worth billions of dollars.

Information of the Verdict

Syndicate head Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang were included in the group of individuals sentenced to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional sentenced.

A couple of figures of the Bai family mafia were received suspended death sentences. Several were sentenced to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were handed prison terms between three to 20 years.

This family, who controlled their own militia, created 41 bases to house their online fraud schemes and gambling houses, officials reported.

Scale of Criminal Operations

Such unlawful activities involved over 29bn Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; £3.1bn). These activities also led to the deaths of six Chinese nationals, the suicide of an individual and numerous assaults, state media announced.

The strict penalties issued by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese initiative to eradicate the extensive scam networks in Southeast Asia - and issue a stern warning to further unlawful organizations.

Background of the Families

These families rose to power in the recent decades with the assistance of a military leader - who now leads Myanmar's regime. He had aimed to support partners in the town after ousting its former leader.

Within the clans, the Bais were "absolutely number one", the son previously stated to state media.

"At that time, our Bai family was the most powerful in both the government and military arenas," the individual stated in a documentary about the Bai family, broadcast on national media in the summer.

During the report, a worker at their fraud facilities narrated the harm he had experienced there: in addition to being hit, he had his nails yanked out with tools and a couple of his digits severed with a tool.

Additional Charges

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were sentenced to execution this week. He has also been separately sentenced of planning to trade and manufacture eleven tons of illegal drugs, official sources stated.

Downfall of the Clans

Their downfall occurred in 2023 as circumstances altered.

For years Beijing has encouraged the regime to control scam activities in Laukkaing.

Last year, the authorities announced detention orders for the leading figures of such families.

The patriarch, the clan's leader, was among the warlords who were handed to China from Myanmar in early 2024.

"Why is the authorities putting significant resources to pursue the groups?" a expert said in the July report.

The purpose is to caution groups, no matter your identity, where you are, when you commit such heinous offenses affecting the citizens, you will pay the price."