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A Chinese court has sentenced five prominent individuals of an infamous Myanmar mafia to capital punishment as Chinese authorities continues its campaign on scam networks in South East Asia.

Altogether, 21 clan individuals and collaborators were convicted of scams, murder, assault and additional crimes, reported a official document published on the court portal.

The group is among a few of organized crime groups that became dominant in the 2000s and converted the poor backwater town of Laukkaing into a lucrative base of casinos and red-light districts.

In recent years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which thousands of illegally moved people, many of them from China, are ensnared, mistreated and forced to scam victims in illegal activities estimated at billions of dollars.

Information of the Sentencing

Mafia boss the patriarch and his son the younger Bai were among the five individuals sentenced to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the remaining convicted.

A couple of figures of the clan mafia were given conditional death penalties. Several were condemned to life in prison, while additional individuals were received prison terms ranging from three to 20 years.

The Bais, who led their own private army, set up 41 compounds to host their online fraud operations and casinos, officials stated.

Scale of Unlawful Activities

These criminal activities involved more than 29 billion yuan ($4.1bn; £3.1bn). These activities also resulted in the fatalities of several from China citizens, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple assaults, reports reported.

The severe penalties issued by the judicial body are part of the Chinese initiative to remove the vast fraud operations in Southeast Asia - and send a firm warning to other unlawful organizations.

Background of the Families

Such clans gained influence in the recent decades with the help of Min Aung Hlaing - who now leads the country's regime. He had aimed to bolster associates in Laukkaing after replacing its former leader.

Within the families, the this family were "the top", Bai Yingcang previously informed state media.

"At that time, we was the dominant in each of the political and military spheres," he said in a documentary about the clan, aired on national media in July.

During the film, a worker at one of illegal operations recalled the harm he had experienced there: besides being hit, he had his nails yanked out with pliers and two of his digits cut off with a tool.

Additional Accusations

The son is among those who were given to execution recently. He has also been independently found guilty of planning to trade and produce eleven tons of methamphetamine, reports announced.

End of the Groups

The families' fall happened in recent times as circumstances altered.

For years Beijing has encouraged the local government to control fraudulent activities in Laukkaing.

In 2023, the Chinese police issued arrest warrants for the most prominent figures of such families.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's patriarch, was among the figures who were handed to Beijing from the country in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the authorities making significant resources to target the clans?" a Chinese investigator commented in the summer film.

"It's to warn groups, regardless of your identity, your location, when you engage in these serious crimes affecting the citizens, you will be held accountable."