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One Chinese court has sentenced a group of prominent figures of a well-known Myanmar mafia to execution as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on scam operations in South East Asia.

In all, 21 clan individuals and collaborators were found guilty of scams, murder, injury and other crimes, reported a state media announcement published on the court website.

The family is among a small number of organized crime groups that became dominant in the early 2000s and converted the poor isolated region of the town into a wealthy center of casinos and red-light districts.

Over the past few years they pivoted to scams in which thousands of illegally moved people, several of them from China, are ensnared, harmed and forced to defraud others in illegal activities valued at billions.

Information of the Verdict

Mafia head the patriarch and his offspring the younger Bai were among the several individuals condemned to execution by the judicial body. Another individual, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the other three punished.

A couple of figures of the clan syndicate were received conditional death penalties. Several were given to life imprisonment, while nine others were given prison sentences between several years to two decades.

The Bais, who commanded their own armed group, created 41 facilities to house their online fraud schemes and betting establishments, officials stated.

Scale of Illegal Schemes

These illegal activities entailed exceeding twenty-nine billion yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1 billion). They also caused the deaths of six from China individuals, the suicide of an individual and numerous injuries, reports stated.

The harsh punishments handed down by the court are part of the Chinese effort to eradicate the vast fraud operations in South East Asia - and deliver a stern signal to further criminal organizations.

Background of the Groups

Such groups became dominant in the early 2000s with the support of Min Aung Hlaing - who now leads Myanmar's junta. He had aimed to prop up associates in Laukkaing after removing its previous warlord.

Within the clans, the Bais were "absolutely number one", the son before told state media.

"At that time, our Bai family was the most powerful in each of the government and military arenas," the individual stated in a documentary about the Bai family, shown on national media in July.

In the same film, a employee at a illegal operations narrated the harm he had experienced at the location: besides being assaulted, he had his nails removed with tools and a couple of his digits amputated with a kitchen knife.

Additional Charges

Bai Yingcang is among those who were condemned to death recently. The individual has additionally been independently sentenced of conspiring to trade and produce 11 tonnes of narcotics, reports reported.

Downfall of the Families

Their downfall came in last year as political winds shifted.

Previously Chinese authorities has encouraged the regime to rein in fraudulent activities in Laukkaing.

Last year, the Chinese police released arrest warrants for the leading figures of such groups.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's head, was among the individuals who were handed to China from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

For what reason is the authorities making so much effort to target the clans?" a expert commented in the summer film.

The purpose is to caution other people, regardless of who you are, your location, if you engage in such terrible crimes affecting the citizens, you will pay the price."