🔗 Share this article

A China's judicial body has sentenced several leading members of a well-known Burmese organized crime group to capital punishment as Chinese authorities persists in its efforts on scam operations in Southeast Asian region.

In all, twenty-one Bai family individuals and collaborators were found guilty of scams, homicide, injury and other crimes, stated a official document posted on the court website.

This clan is among a small number of mafias that gained influence in the early 2000s and transformed the poor remote area of the town into a profitable center of casinos and nightlife areas.

Recently they pivoted to scams in which thousands of smuggled workers, many of them from China, are ensnared, mistreated and forced to defraud others in criminal enterprises estimated at billions.

Details of the Sentencing

Mafia boss Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang were included in the five men sentenced to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the additional convicted.

A couple of members of the Bai family mafia were handed delayed executions. Several were condemned to life in prison, while more figures were handed prison terms varying from three to 20 years.

This family, who commanded their own armed group, created forty-one bases to accommodate their digital scam operations and betting establishments, authorities reported.

Extent of Illegal Operations

Such criminal enterprises involved more than 29bn local currency ($4.1 billion; £3.1 billion). These activities also caused the fatalities of several Chinese nationals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and several assaults, state media reported.

The harsh sentences handed down by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese campaign to remove the vast fraud networks in South East Asia - and issue a strong warning to further illegal groups.

Context of the Groups

These groups rose to power in the recent decades with the help of Min Aung Hlaing - who now leads Myanmar's regime. He had wanted to prop up associates in the town after replacing its earlier leader.

Among the families, the this family were "the top", the son before told official sources.

"At that time, the clan was the dominant in each of the political and military spheres," he remarked in a film about the Bai family, shown on Chinese state media in July.

In the same film, a worker at their fraud facilities narrated the mistreatment he had suffered there: in addition to being hit, he had his fingernails yanked out with pliers and a couple of his digits cut off with a tool.

Additional Accusations

The son is included in those who were sentenced to death in the latest ruling. He has also been separately found guilty of organizing to smuggle and produce 11 tonnes of methamphetamine, official sources stated.

End of the Families

Their end came in last year as circumstances shifted.

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

Last year, the Chinese police announced arrest warrants for the most prominent figures of such families.

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

"Why is the authorities making such extensive work to target the groups?" a expert stated in the summer film.

This serves as a warning individuals, no matter who you are, your location, if you carry out these serious crimes affecting the Chinese people, you will face consequences."