One China's court has condemned five top members of an infamous Myanmar organized crime group to capital punishment as Beijing continues its efforts on fraudulent operations in South East Asia.
In all, 21 Bai family individuals and collaborators were found guilty of scams, homicide, assault and other offenses, said a state media report released on the court website.
This clan is one of a few of syndicates that became dominant in the 2000s and changed the poor isolated region of Laukkaing into a lucrative center of gambling establishments and red-light districts.
Over the past few years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which many of trafficked people, many of them from China, are ensnared, abused and compelled to cheat victims in illegal enterprises estimated at billions.
Mafia head Bai Suocheng and his offspring Bai Yingcang were among the five figures sentenced to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the additional convicted.
A couple of individuals of the clan syndicate were received delayed executions. Several were condemned to life in prison, while nine others were received jail sentences ranging from several years to two decades.
The clan, who controlled their own armed group, established 41 compounds to house their online fraud activities and betting establishments, officials reported.
Such illegal activities involved exceeding 29bn Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). These activities also led to the demise of six Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple injuries, official sources reported.
The strict penalties handed down by the judicial body are a component of China's initiative to eliminate the vast fraud rings in the region - and deliver a firm warning to further illegal groups.
Such clans became dominant in the 2000s with the assistance of a prominent figure - who now leads Myanmar's military government. The leader had aimed to prop up allies in the town after replacing its previous leader.
Within the clans, the Bais were "absolutely number one", the son before informed state media.
During that period, the clan was the dominant in each of the government and armed circles," the individual stated in a film about the Bai family, shown on Chinese state media in July.
In the same report, a employee at their their scam centres described the harm he had experienced at the location: besides being beaten, he had his fingernails removed with instruments and a couple of his fingers amputated with a tool.
Bai Yingcang is included in those who were given to execution this week. He has additionally been separately convicted of organizing to trade and produce eleven tons of illegal drugs, official sources reported.
Their downfall occurred in last year as circumstances changed.
For years Chinese authorities has encouraged the regime to control fraudulent operations in Laukkaing.
Recently, the law enforcement announced arrest warrants for the most prominent individuals of such clans.
Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's patriarch, was included in the individuals who were extradited to China from the country in recent months.
"Why is the Chinese government putting such extensive work to go after the clans?" a Chinese investigator commented in the summer documentary.
This serves as a warning groups, regardless of who you are, where you are, as long as you carry out such terrible offenses against the citizens, you will face consequences."
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