A Chinese court has sentenced five top members of an infamous Myanmar mafia to death as Beijing continues its crackdown on scam operations in Southeast Asia. In all, 21 members of the Bai family and their associates were convicted of fraud, homicide, injury, and other crimes, according to state media reports. The Bai family is one of the few mafias that rose to power in the 2000s, transforming the impoverished town of Laukkaing into a lucrative hub of casinos and red-light districts. Recently, they shifted to running scams that trapped thousands of trafficked workers, many of whom were Chinese, forcing them into abusive conditions while purporting to be part of large criminal networks. Among the five sentenced to death by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court were mafia boss Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang. Two other members received suspended death sentences, with five others sentenced to life imprisonment. Reports indicate that their criminal activities accounted for over 29 billion Chinese yuan (approximately $4.1 billion) in illicit gains and resulted in the deaths and serious injuries of multiple victims. The court's severe ruling underscores China's commitment to eradicating these extensive scam operations and serves as a stark deterrent to other criminal syndicates. In a push to curb organized crime, Beijing has been pressuring Myanmar’s military government to take action against these mafia families since 2023, following the arrest of prominent members in 2024. Bai Yingcang, in a past interview, noted that the Bai family was once the most powerful in both political and military circles, marking their prominent rise amid a backdrop of corruption and crime.