Chinese courts have sentenced three members of the Wei family criminal syndicate to death for operating illegal casinos and scam compounds in northern Myanmar. The organisation handled more than RMB12.2 billion (approximately US$1.7 billion) in illicit gambling and fraud funds and was linked to the deaths of four Chinese nationals.
The Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court and Nanan City People’s Court in Fujian province announced the first-instance verdicts on October 13, following a trial in May. Syndicate leader Wei Huairen, his nephew Chen Dawei and associate Liao Jingfang received death sentences.
Three additional defendants received life imprisonment, while 55 others were sentenced to between three years and three months and 24 years in prison. Authorities also ordered asset confiscations and imposed financial penalties, with deportations where applicable.
The judgments follow China’s ongoing campaign against organised crime groups operating along its border with Myanmar.
Wei Family Controlled Casinos and Fraud Compounds
The Wei syndicate established its operations in Laukkaing, the main town of Myanmar’s Kokang region, where the family exercised considerable influence through its business interests and armed forces.
Wei Huairen, also known as Wai San, headed the Henry Group conglomerate and controlled a local military border guard unit. Investigators found that he used those resources to protect criminal operations and support groups conducting telecommunications fraud.
Since 2019, the organisation had developed a network of 14 large scam compounds. Its activities also included drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution and cross-border human smuggling.
Workers were frequently recruited through promises of high salaries before finding themselves confined to heavily guarded facilities. Some had been trafficked into Myanmar and forced to participate in online scams targeting victims in China and elsewhere.
The courts established that syndicate members collaborated with fraud operators to kill two Chinese citizens who refused to follow instructions. Chen Dawei separately used armed personnel under his command to murder two other Chinese nationals.
Investigators uncovered further evidence of violence, including victims’ remains bearing gunshot wounds and signs of restraint.
A documentary examining the criminal network described how the Wei family exploited its official security responsibilities to strengthen its control over illegal businesses.
“By intertwining official border guard units with private militias, the family pioneered a violent model of armed military control over telecoms scam compounds” and casino hubs in Laukkai, the narrator said.
The authorities identified Wei as a central figure in an organisation that had operated with substantial armed protection before Chinese investigators intensified their efforts to dismantle it.
China Targets Kokang’s Four Crime Families
As reported by Asia Gaming Brief, the Wei clan belonged to Kokang’s so-called “four families,” alongside the Bai, Liu and Ming groups, which controlled extensive criminal enterprises in northern Myanmar.
China began a major cross-border law enforcement campaign in late 2023, working with regional authorities to arrest suspected syndicate leaders and repatriate nearly 60,000 Chinese fraud suspects.
Jurisdiction initially complicated the investigations. Myanmar authorities argued that suspects holding Myanmar nationality should face prosecution locally, while Beijing maintained that Chinese courts had authority because the organisations primarily targeted its citizens.
Cooperation between the two governments eventually enabled the transfer of wanted individuals, including Wei Huairen in January 2024.
The latest verdicts follow earlier executions involving rival Kokang syndicates. In January 2026, China executed 11 members of the Ming crime network. Another four members of the Bai family were executed in February for offences including fraud and intentional homicide.
Ming Xuechang, the founder of the Ming organisation, died by suicide before authorities could arrest him.
The prosecution of the Wei family represents another major development in China’s campaign against criminal groups that combined illegal gambling with telecommunications fraud.
Scam Networks Extend Beyond Myanmar
The cases have also drawn attention to the international reach of criminal organisations operating online fraud compounds.
Myanmar’s border regions became important centres for these activities amid the instability that followed the country’s 2021 military coup. Criminal groups used loosely governed areas to establish facilities where workers carried out investment fraud and romance scams.
The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands of people work in scam centres worldwide. It has also identified similar operations across Africa and South America, reflecting the geographical expansion of the industry.
Some participants knowingly engage in fraud, while others become victims of trafficking and coercion. Criminal organisations frequently restrict workers’ movements and subject them to violence when they resist.
The Wei family’s convictions illustrate the scale of the criminal enterprises that Chinese authorities have pursued through cooperation with neighbouring countries.
The three death sentences remain first-instance rulings, with the latest judgments adding to the prosecutions of major Myanmar-based syndicates responsible for illegal gambling and cross-border fraud.