Published on: November 5, 2025, 01:39h.
Updated on: November 5, 2025, 01:39h.
- China terminates its long-standing acceptance of Kokang’s notorious crime lord.
- Bai Suocheng’s empire disintegrated following cyber-fraud that targeted Chinese citizens.
- Judgment indicates Beijing’s firmer approach towards criminal strongholds in border regions.
A Chinese court has handed down a death sentence to a notorious warlord who previously governed the casino city of Laukkiang in Myanmar’s largely lawless Shan state like a personal empire.
Over a span of twenty years, Bai Suocheng converted the once quiet border town into a lively area filled with gaming establishments and prostitution, ultimately transforming it into a center for scam operations where thousands of trafficked individuals were held captive and compelled to commit fraud, generating substantial profits for their captors.
$4 Billion Operation
Bai, along with 20 family members and accomplices, was convicted by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in Guangdong Province for offenses that included fraud, kidnapping, premeditated murder, operating a casino, organizing prostitution, and smuggling, as reported by Chinese state news outlet Xinhua.
Chinese prosecutors have indicated that Bai’s gambling and fraud schemes were estimated to be valued at approximately $4 billion, resulting in the deaths of at least six Chinese nationals. Furthermore, Bai has been separately found guilty of conspiring to traffic and produce 11 tons of methamphetamine.
Alongside Bai, four members of his organization received death sentences, including his son, Bai Yingcang.
Two individuals were granted suspended death sentences, while five others received life sentences, and nine were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 20 years.
Who is Bai Suocheng?
Bai is a former deputy commander of an ethnic Kokang Chinese rebel army who rose to power by forming alliances with Myanmar’s military junta. He dominated Laukkiang using his militia and enjoyed significant autonomy in the area—historically a stronghold of ethnic rebel factions—in exchange for supporting the junta.
Initially tolerated by Beijing, it’s likely this was due to the relative stability he brought to the volatile region along the Yunnan–Myanmar border, which helped prevent open conflict or refugee influx into China, while facilitating cross-border trade without directly undermining Chinese interests.
It was only when his telecom fraud and trafficking operations expanded to a level that threatened domestic stability and stirred public outrage that Beijing altered its stance towards the warlord.
In November 2023, Chinese authorities issued warrants for the apprehension of Bai and his associates. Encouraged by this move, ethnic rebels opposed to the junta stormed Laukkaing, freeing trafficked individuals and apprehending members of ruling triad families.
Bai and his family attempted to flee but were eventually captured by junta forces along with members of the affiliated Ming crime family. In early 2024, they were handed over to Chinese authorities. Eleven members of the Ming family received death sentences from the same court in September.