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One Chinese judicial body has handed down death sentences to five top figures of a well-known Burmese mafia to capital punishment as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on fraudulent operations in the region.

In all, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were found guilty of scams, murder, assault and additional offenses, said a state media document released on the judicial website.

This clan is among a few of organized crime groups that became dominant in the 2000s and changed the poor backwater town of Laukkaing into a profitable center of gambling establishments and entertainment zones.

In recent years they pivoted to illegal operations in which numerous of smuggled people, many of them from China, are caught, mistreated and compelled to defraud targets in illegal activities valued at huge sums.

Details of the Sentencing

Mafia leader Bai Suocheng and his heir the younger Bai were among the five figures sentenced to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the remaining convicted.

A couple of figures of the clan mafia were received suspended death sentences. Several were given to life in prison, while nine others were given prison sentences varying from three to 20 years.

The clan, who led their own armed group, set up 41 facilities to house their cyberscam operations and gambling houses, officials stated.

Extent of Illegal Activities

Such unlawful operations entailed more than twenty-nine billion local currency (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). These activities also led to the deaths of six Chinese nationals, the suicide of one and numerous injuries, state media stated.

The strict penalties issued by the court are within China's initiative to eradicate the vast fraud networks in South East Asia - and issue a stern warning to further unlawful groups.

Context of the Families

These groups gained influence in the recent decades with the help of a prominent figure - who currently heads Myanmar's regime. He had intended to support associates in the town after ousting its earlier ruler.

Among the clans, the this family were "absolutely number one", the son before stated to official sources.

During that period, our Bai family was the dominant in both the political and military spheres," he stated in a report about the clan, aired on official channels in July.

In the same documentary, a worker at a illegal operations recalled the mistreatment he had endured at the location: in addition to being beaten, he had his fingernails extracted with pliers and a couple of his digits amputated with a tool.

Further Charges

The son is included in those who were given to execution this week. The individual has also been separately found guilty of planning to smuggle and produce a large quantity of illegal drugs, reports stated.

Decline of the Groups

Their end came in 2023 as circumstances shifted.

Previously Chinese authorities has encouraged the regime to limit fraudulent operations in the area.

Recently, the authorities announced arrest warrants for the leading individuals of such clans.

The patriarch, the Bai family's head, was included in the individuals who were transferred to Beijing from Myanmar in recent months.

"Why is the state putting significant resources to pursue the clans?" a expert commented in the July documentary.

The purpose is to caution other people, regardless of who you are, where you are, as long as you commit such heinous acts affecting the Chinese people, you will be held accountable."