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A Chinese court has condemned five top figures of a well-known Myanmar organized crime group to capital punishment as Beijing continues its campaign on scam networks in the region.

Overall, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were convicted of fraud, homicide, assault and various offenses, said a official announcement published on the court portal.

This clan is one of a handful of mafias that rose to power in the last two decades and changed the impoverished backwater town of the town into a profitable base of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

Recently they pivoted to fraudulent schemes in which many of trafficked workers, many of them from China, are ensnared, abused and forced to defraud victims in criminal enterprises valued at huge sums.

Specifics of the Verdict

Syndicate head Bai Suocheng and his son the younger Bai were included in the group of figures sentenced to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional sentenced.

Two figures of the Bai family syndicate were given delayed executions. Five were condemned to life imprisonment, while more figures were received prison sentences between three to 20 years.

The Bais, who controlled their own militia, set up 41 compounds to accommodate their digital scam schemes and casinos, officials said.

Extent of Criminal Operations

These illegal enterprises included exceeding 29 billion yuan ($4.1bn; £3.1bn). These activities also resulted in the deaths of several Chinese citizens, the suicide of an individual and several harm, reports stated.

The harsh penalties delivered by the judicial body are part of the Chinese campaign to eradicate the vast fraud networks in the region - and send a firm message to other illegal groups.

Background of the Families

These clans rose to power in the recent decades with the support of a prominent figure - who now leads the country's military government. He had aimed to prop up partners in the town after replacing its former leader.

Within the families, the this family were "the top", the son previously stated to official sources.

Back then, we was the dominant in both the government and military spheres," he stated in a film about the clan, broadcast on Chinese state media in the summer.

In the same documentary, a employee at a their scam centres narrated the abuse he had endured there: besides being assaulted, he had his fingernails yanked out with tools and a couple of his fingers amputated with a kitchen knife.

Further Charges

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were condemned to execution recently. He has also been separately convicted of conspiring to trade and produce a large quantity of methamphetamine, reports stated.

Decline of the Clans

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

For years Beijing has urged the regime to limit fraudulent schemes in the area.

In 2023, the law enforcement released arrest warrants for the leading members of these clans.

The patriarch, the clan's patriarch, was among the warlords who were handed to China from the country in recent months.

"Why is the state making so much effort to go after the four families?" a expert stated in the July film.

The purpose is to caution individuals, no matter your position, your location, as long as you engage in these serious crimes against the Chinese people, you will face consequences."