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A China's judicial body has handed down death sentences to several prominent individuals of a notorious Myanmar mafia to capital punishment as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on fraudulent activities in Southeast Asian region.

Altogether, twenty-one Bai family figures and partners were convicted of fraud, homicide, injury and various offenses, said a official document published on the court website.

The group is among a handful of mafias that rose to power in the 2000s and converted the underdeveloped isolated region of the town into a lucrative center of casinos and nightlife areas.

In recent years they pivoted to illegal operations in which thousands of smuggled individuals, many of them Chinese, are caught, harmed and compelled to scam victims in illegal enterprises estimated at billions of dollars.

Details of the Judgment

Mafia leader the patriarch and his offspring the younger Bai were included in the five men condemned to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Another individual, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional sentenced.

Two members of the clan mafia were handed suspended death sentences. Five were given to life in prison, while more figures were received jail terms ranging from several years to two decades.

The Bais, who commanded their own militia, set up 41 bases to house their digital scam schemes and gambling houses, government said.

Extent of Unlawful Operations

Such criminal activities involved exceeding twenty-nine billion Chinese yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1 billion). These activities also led to the deaths of six Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and numerous assaults, reports announced.

The strict sentences issued by the judicial body are within the Chinese campaign to eradicate the vast scam rings in Southeast Asia - and send a firm warning to further unlawful syndicates.

Context of the Families

Such groups became dominant in the 2000s with the assistance of Min Aung Hlaing - who is in charge of Myanmar's regime. The leader had intended to bolster partners in the town after ousting its previous leader.

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

Back then, our Bai family was the leading in each of the political and armed circles," he said in a film about the clan, broadcast on Chinese state media in July.

Within that documentary, a individual at one of fraud facilities described the harm he had endured at the location: besides being beaten, he had his nails removed with instruments and a couple of his digits cut off with a kitchen knife.

More Allegations

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were given to execution in the latest ruling. The individual has additionally been independently found guilty of organizing to smuggle and manufacture a large quantity of illegal drugs, state media reported.

Downfall of the Groups

The families' fall came in recent times as political winds altered.

Over a long period Beijing has urged the Myanmar junta to limit fraudulent schemes in the area.

Last year, the Chinese police issued detention orders for the key figures of these clans.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's leader, was included in the individuals who were extradited to China from Myanmar in recent months.

For what reason is the Chinese government putting such extensive work to go after the four families?" a Chinese investigator commented in the summer report.

This serves as a warning other people, no matter your identity, your location, if you commit such serious crimes affecting the nationals, you will face consequences."