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A Chinese judicial body has handed down death sentences to five top members of a well-known Burmese organized crime group to death as Chinese authorities persists in its campaign on scam activities in the region.

Altogether, twenty-one Bai family members and associates were sentenced of scams, homicide, injury and various offenses, said a official report released on the court portal.

The family is one of a handful of organized crime groups that gained influence in the last two decades and transformed the poor isolated region of Laukkaing into a profitable hub of casinos and nightlife areas.

Over the past few years they shifted to illegal operations in which numerous of illegally moved individuals, a large number of them from China, are ensnared, mistreated and compelled to scam targets in criminal enterprises estimated at billions.

Details of the Judgment

Mafia head the patriarch and his offspring the younger Bai were included in the several individuals sentenced to death by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the remaining sentenced.

Two individuals of the clan mafia were given delayed executions. Five were given to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were given jail sentences ranging from several years to two decades.

The clan, who commanded their own armed group, established 41 compounds to accommodate their digital scam schemes and betting establishments, government said.

Extent of Criminal Schemes

Such criminal operations involved over twenty-nine billion yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). They also led to the fatalities of several from China citizens, the self-inflicted death of one and multiple harm, reports stated.

The harsh penalties handed down by the judicial body are a component of the Chinese campaign to remove the vast fraud networks in Southeast Asia - and issue a firm signal to further criminal organizations.

Context of the Families

Such clans rose to power in the recent decades with the support of a military leader - who now leads Myanmar's junta. He had aimed to support partners in the town after removing its former warlord.

Among the clans, the Bais were "the top", Bai Yingcang before stated to official sources.

"At that time, our Bai family was the leading in each of the political and military spheres," he said in a documentary about the Bai family, aired on Chinese state media in July.

Within that documentary, a worker at a illegal operations recalled the mistreatment he had endured at the location: besides being beaten, he had his nails extracted with pliers and two of his digits severed with a tool.

Additional Allegations

The son is included in those who were sentenced to execution this week. He has also been separately convicted of organizing to trade and produce a large quantity of narcotics, state media announced.

End of the Groups

The families' fall occurred in last year as circumstances altered.

Previously Chinese authorities has encouraged the local government to rein in scam activities in Laukkaing.

Recently, the law enforcement issued detention orders for the key members of these families.

The patriarch, the Bai family's head, was among the warlords who were handed to Beijing from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

For what reason is the authorities putting significant resources to go after the clans?" a Chinese investigator said in the July report.

This serves as a warning groups, no matter your identity, your location, when you engage in such serious acts targeting the nationals, you will face consequences."