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A China's judicial body has sentenced a group of top individuals of a notorious Myanmar mafia to execution as Beijing persists in its efforts on fraudulent operations in Southeast Asian region.

Overall, 21 clan figures and partners were sentenced of scams, murder, injury and additional crimes, reported a state media document released on the judicial portal.

This clan is one of a handful of organized crime groups that rose to power in the last two decades and changed the impoverished remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable center of casinos and entertainment zones.

Over the past few years they turned to fraudulent schemes in which thousands of illegally moved individuals, a large number of them from China, are ensnared, abused and forced to defraud victims in illegal activities estimated at huge sums.

Specifics of the Sentencing

Mafia leader the patriarch and his heir Bai Yingcang were among the group of men sentenced to execution by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the remaining sentenced.

Two figures of the Bai family mafia were received conditional death penalties. Five were given to life in prison, while more figures were handed prison sentences between three to 20 years.

The Bais, who commanded their own militia, established 41 facilities to host their digital scam schemes and casinos, government said.

Scale of Illegal Activities

Such criminal activities involved exceeding 29 billion Chinese yuan (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). They also led to the demise of six Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of one and numerous assaults, reports announced.

The strict penalties handed down by the judicial body are part of China's effort to eradicate the large scam rings in the region - and deliver a stern signal to additional illegal organizations.

Background of the Groups

These clans became dominant in the 2000s with the help of a military leader - who now leads the country's military government. He had intended to bolster associates in Laukkaing after replacing its former warlord.

Within the clans, the Bais were "the most powerful", Bai Yingcang previously stated to state media.

Back then, the clan was the leading in each of the political and military spheres," he remarked in a documentary about the Bai family, aired on official channels in July.

In the same report, a worker at one of illegal operations recalled the harm he had suffered at the location: in addition to being beaten, he had his fingernails removed with instruments and a couple of his digits amputated with a tool.

Additional Charges

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were given to execution this week. The individual has also been independently convicted of planning to trade and produce eleven tons of methamphetamine, state media stated.

End of the Clans

Their fall came in last year as situations shifted.

For years Chinese authorities has urged the regime to limit fraudulent schemes in Laukkaing.

Recently, the authorities issued arrest warrants for the key figures of such groups.

The patriarch, the Bai family's leader, was among the figures who were transferred to Beijing from the country in recent months.

"Why is the Chinese government putting such extensive work to go after the clans?" a Chinese investigator said in the summer report.

"It's to warn groups, regardless of your position, your base, if you commit these terrible acts affecting the nationals, you will pay the price."