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A China's court has handed down death sentences to several leading individuals of a well-known Myanmar mafia to execution as Beijing maintains its crackdown on fraudulent networks in Southeast Asian region.

Altogether, 21 Bai family members and associates were found guilty of scams, murder, injury and other crimes, said a official document published on the court portal.

This clan is one of a handful of organized crime groups that rose to power in the early 2000s and changed the poor isolated region of Laukkaing into a wealthy base of casinos and red-light districts.

Over the past few years they turned to fraudulent schemes in which thousands of trafficked individuals, several of them from China, are ensnared, abused and obligated to defraud victims in illegal enterprises valued at huge sums.

Information of the Verdict

Mafia leader Bai Suocheng and his heir Bai Yingcang were among the five men condemned to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Another individual, A third figure and A fourth person were the remaining sentenced.

Two members of the Bai family mafia were given conditional death penalties. Five were condemned to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were given jail terms varying from a period of 3-20 years.

The clan, who controlled their own militia, set up 41 bases to house their cyberscam activities and casinos, government stated.

Scale of Criminal Operations

These illegal enterprises entailed more than 29 billion Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). They also resulted in the fatalities of several from China citizens, the self-inflicted death of one and numerous assaults, official sources stated.

The harsh sentences handed down by the judicial body are a component of China's campaign to eradicate the extensive fraud networks in Southeast Asia - and send a firm warning to further illegal groups.

Context of the Families

These clans rose to power in the early 2000s with the help of a military leader - who currently heads Myanmar's military government. The leader had wanted to bolster associates in the town after ousting its previous warlord.

Within the clans, the Bais were "the top", Bai Yingcang previously informed official sources.

"At that time, our Bai family was the dominant in each of the political and military arenas," he stated in a report about the Bai family, shown on Chinese state media in July.

In the same report, a worker at their their scam centres described the mistreatment he had experienced there: in addition to being assaulted, he had his fingernails removed with pliers and a couple of his digits severed with a blade.

Additional Accusations

The son is among those who were given to execution recently. He has additionally been separately found guilty of planning to traffic and produce 11 tonnes of narcotics, official sources reported.

Downfall of the Groups

The families' downfall happened in last year as political winds changed.

Previously Chinese authorities has encouraged the local government to limit scam operations in the area.

Last year, the law enforcement released legal actions for the leading members of such families.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's patriarch, was included in the warlords who were extradited to China from the country in recent months.

"Why is the Chinese government putting significant resources to pursue the clans?" a Chinese investigator stated in the July film.

"It's to warn other people, no matter your identity, your base, when you carry out these heinous crimes affecting the nationals, you will pay the price."