🔗 Share this article

One Chinese court has sentenced a group of leading figures of a well-known Burmese organized crime group to execution as Chinese authorities maintains its efforts on fraudulent activities in South East Asia.

Altogether, 21 Bai family figures and partners were found guilty of fraud, murder, assault and other crimes, said a state media announcement posted on the judicial portal.

This clan is among a handful of mafias that became dominant in the 2000s and changed the impoverished backwater town of Laukkaing into a lucrative hub of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

In recent years they shifted to illegal operations in which many of illegally moved individuals, several of them Chinese, are caught, harmed and forced to cheat others in unlawful enterprises worth billions.

Details of the Judgment

Mafia boss Bai Suocheng and his son the younger Bai were among the group of figures given to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Yang Liqiang, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the additional punished.

A couple of members of the Bai family syndicate were received conditional death penalties. Several were condemned to life in prison, while additional individuals were given prison sentences between three to 20 years.

The Bais, who commanded their own militia, set up forty-one bases to accommodate their online fraud operations and gambling houses, authorities stated.

Scale of Unlawful Schemes

Such illegal activities included more than twenty-nine billion local currency ($4.1 billion; £3.1bn). These activities also led to the fatalities of several Chinese citizens, the suicide of an individual and several harm, official sources reported.

The severe punishments issued by the court are part of China's effort to eradicate the extensive scam operations in Southeast Asia - and deliver a firm message to other illegal organizations.

History of the Clans

Such groups rose to power in the early 2000s with the help of a military leader - who is in charge of the country's junta. The leader had aimed to support associates in Laukkaing after ousting its former warlord.

Within the families, the this family were "absolutely number one", the son before told state media.

Back then, the clan was the most powerful in each of the political and armed spheres," the individual said in a documentary about the clan, shown on national media in July.

During the film, a worker at a their scam centres described the harm he had suffered at the location: besides being beaten, he had his nails extracted with instruments and a couple of his fingers severed with a tool.

Further Accusations

The son is among those who were condemned to execution recently. He has also been independently found guilty of planning to traffic and produce 11 tonnes of illegal drugs, official sources reported.

Downfall of the Families

The families' end occurred in 2023 as situations changed.

For years Beijing has pressed the regime to limit scam schemes in Laukkaing.

Last year, the law enforcement released legal actions for the most prominent figures of such families.

The patriarch, the Bai family's patriarch, was among the warlords who were transferred to China from the country in recent months.

"Why is the authorities making so much effort to go after the four families?" a Chinese investigator commented in the July documentary.

"It's to warn individuals, no matter your identity, your location, as long as you commit such heinous crimes against the nationals, you will pay the price."