“The Ming family criminal group, in collusion with other gangs, committed deliberate killings and false imprisonment, causing the death of 14 Chinese citizens and injuring many others,” the Supreme People's Court said in a statement quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency. The court emphasized that “the nature of the crimes was exceptionally vile and their consequences were particularly serious.”
What crimes did the Ming family gang commit?
When was the original sentence given to the convicts?
How many people died because of the gang?
Who were among the executed gang leaders?
Those executed included key clan leaders, including Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen. Before the execution, the convicts were allowed a last meeting with their close relatives, the media reported.
The original verdict was handed down in September last year, and the defendants' appeals were rejected in November.
Since 2015, the mafia has created a gambling and fraud empire in Burma's Kokang region, offering “armed protection” to smaller criminal groups. It is estimated that the turnover from illegal activities exceeded 10 billion yuan (approx. USD 1.4 billion). The operation was based on mass human trafficking; thousands of Chinese citizens were lured to border compounds and forced to work in financial extortions.
As the BBC explains, the gang was disbanded in 2023, when, under political pressure from Beijing, the Burmese junta arrested the suspects and handed them over to the Chinese side. This was a turning point in the campaign against the so-called “fraud factories” in Southeast Asia.
Although Beijing does not disclose data on executed death sentences, international organizations, including Amnesty International estimates that thousands of executions are carried out there every year.
