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One Chinese judicial body has sentenced several leading individuals of a notorious Myanmar organized crime group to capital punishment as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on scam networks in South East Asia.

In all, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were sentenced of scams, murder, assault and other offenses, stated a state media announcement posted on the judicial website.

The family is one of a few of organized crime groups that gained influence in the 2000s and transformed the poor remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable hub of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

In recent years they turned to scams in which thousands of illegally moved individuals, many of them Chinese, are caught, mistreated and obligated to defraud others in criminal activities valued at billions of dollars.

Details of the Judgment

Syndicate head Bai Suocheng and his offspring the younger Bai were included in the several individuals sentenced to capital punishment by the court in Shenzhen. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the additional convicted.

A couple of members of the clan syndicate were received suspended death sentences. Five were given to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were given prison sentences between several years to two decades.

The clan, who led their own armed group, set up forty-one bases to accommodate their online fraud operations and casinos, government said.

Scale of Criminal Schemes

These criminal enterprises involved more than 29bn Chinese yuan ($4.1bn; £3.1bn). These activities also caused the deaths of six Chinese nationals, the self-inflicted death of one and multiple harm, official sources reported.

The strict sentences delivered by the judicial body are within the Chinese initiative to eradicate the vast scam networks in the region - and send a strong message to further illegal groups.

History of the Clans

Such clans gained influence in the 2000s with the assistance of Min Aung Hlaing - who is in charge of Myanmar's regime. The leader had intended to support allies in the town after ousting its earlier warlord.

Within the clans, the Bais were "the top", Bai Yingcang before informed state media.

Back then, we was the leading in both the government and armed spheres," he remarked in a report about the clan, aired on Chinese state media in July.

Within that film, a worker at their fraud facilities recalled the abuse he had experienced there: besides being assaulted, he had his fingernails removed with instruments and a couple of his fingers amputated with a tool.

Additional Charges

The son is among those who were given to death recently. The individual has also been independently found guilty of organizing to trade and make eleven tons of illegal drugs, official sources stated.

Downfall of the Clans

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

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

Last year, the authorities issued detention orders for the most prominent members of these groups.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's patriarch, was among the figures who were transferred to Beijing from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the authorities putting so much effort to pursue the clans?" a official stated in the July film.

"It's to warn individuals, regardless of your position, your location, as long as you commit such serious acts against the citizens, you will be held accountable."