The body was tied up with chains and there were bullet holes in the skull! Three members of Myanmar's Kokang "Wei family" were sentenced to death by China

On January 30, 2024, Myanmar handed over to China the leaders and suspects of the Kokang electronic fraud criminal group in northern Myanmar, including Wei Huairen, Bai Suocheng and others.

Three members of the "Wei Family Criminal Group" in the Kokang region of northern Myanmar were sentenced to death by a Chinese court. The Intermediate People's Court of Quanzhou City, Fujian Province and other courts announced the death penalty in the first instance on the 13th. Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang were sentenced to death for major crimes such as homicide and telecommunications network fraud. China's state-run media CCTV also revealed that the police had found the remains of victims tied with chains and with bullet holes in their skulls in a related crime park.

Agence France-Presse reported that the Wei family is one of the "four major families" in the Kokang region of Myanmar and has long used local military and political influence and armed forces to engage in criminal activities. China's official media "CCTV" stated that the Wei family combined political, military and commercial crimes to form an "iron triangle" and set up multiple criminal parks in Kokang Old Street.

According to official court trial materials released by China, since 2019, the Wei Huairen criminal group headed by Wei Huairen, Wei Qingsong and others, and the Henry criminal group headed by Wei Rong, Wei Qinghai, Wei Qingtao and others, have used the Wei family's military and political influence and armed forces in Kokang to set up criminal parks and provide armed protection for established businesses.

The two groups are involved in crimes such as telecommunications and Internet fraud, opening casinos, extortion, organizing prostitution, drug trafficking, and organizing others to cross borders illegally. Chinese official data pointed out that the total gambling and fraud funds of relevant groups amounted to more than 12.2 billion yuan (approximately NT$58.4 billion).

The case also involves violence control within the park. Court information pointed out that the Wei family criminal group and the park fraud gang killed people involved in fraud who disobeyed management, resulting in the death of two Chinese citizens; Chen Dawei used the armed forces under his control to kill, resulting in the death of two other Chinese citizens.

Images and investigation details released by Chinese officials show that the Wei family criminal group's operating methods are extremely brutal. The police found the bodies of the victims in the park. Some of the deceased had been bound with iron chains before their death, with obvious bullet holes in their skulls, and they died in miserable conditions.

In this verdict, in addition to Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang who were sentenced to death, Wei Qingtao, Kang Min and Xiong Xingxing were sentenced to life imprisonment, and the remaining 55 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 3 years and 3 months to 24 years. The court also imposes fines, confiscation of property and other sanctions on a case-by-case basis.

In recent years, China has continued to cooperate with Southeast Asian countries to combat cross-border telecommunications fraud. In January this year, China executed 11 people, including members of the Ming family criminal group; the following month, four members of the Bai family were also executed for fraud, intentional homicide, kidnapping and other crimes.