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A Chinese court has condemned five top individuals of a well-known Myanmar mafia to capital punishment as Beijing maintains its crackdown on scam networks in the region.

Altogether, 21 clan individuals and collaborators were sentenced of scams, homicide, injury and other crimes, reported a official announcement published on the court portal.

This clan is one of a small number of syndicates that gained influence in the last two decades and converted the underdeveloped remote area of the town into a wealthy hub of casinos and red-light districts.

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 obligated to defraud others in unlawful enterprises worth huge sums.

Information of the Sentencing

Mafia leader the patriarch and his son Bai Yingcang were among the five men condemned to death by the court in Shenzhen. Another individual, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the other three sentenced.

A couple of members of the clan syndicate were given delayed executions. Five were given to life imprisonment, while nine others were received prison sentences varying from several years to two decades.

This family, who commanded their own private army, set up forty-one bases to host their online fraud operations and betting establishments, government said.

Scale of Illegal Operations

Such unlawful activities involved exceeding twenty-nine billion yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1bn). They also led to the demise of six Chinese individuals, the suicide of one and several assaults, reports announced.

The harsh sentences issued by the court are a component of China's effort to eradicate the large fraud operations in the region - and send a firm signal to additional unlawful organizations.

Context of the Groups

Such families gained influence in the early 2000s with the help of a military leader - who now leads the country's regime. The leader had aimed to support allies in the town after removing its former warlord.

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

During that period, we was the most powerful in both the government and armed arenas," he remarked in a documentary about the clan, shown on national media in July.

During the report, a worker at their their scam centres recalled the harm he had suffered there: in addition to being hit, he had his nails removed with tools and a couple of his digits severed with a tool.

Additional Charges

Bai Yingcang is among those who were sentenced to death in the latest ruling. He has also been independently convicted of conspiring to traffic and produce eleven tons of illegal drugs, reports stated.

Decline of the Clans

Their downfall happened in last year as circumstances altered.

For years Beijing has urged the local government to rein in scam activities in the area.

Last year, the Chinese police released arrest warrants for the leading members of these families.

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

For what reason is the authorities putting so much effort to pursue the four families?" a Chinese investigator commented in the July documentary.

The purpose is to caution other people, no matter who you are, your location, if you engage in such heinous offenses targeting the Chinese people, you will be held accountable."