China Executes 11 Members of Crime Family Over 14 Murders, $1bn Syndicate

Chinese authorities have executed 11 members of a powerful mafia family convicted of killing 14 people and operating a criminal syndicate valued at more than $1 billion.

The executions were confirmed on Thursday by the Wenzhou City Intermediate People’s Court, following the dismissal of the convicts’ appeals. The group had been sentenced to death in September for multiple offences, including murder, illegal detention and large-scale fraud.

Those executed included key members of the Ming family, among them Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming and Luao Jianzhang. Investigators said the group was responsible for the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and had run an extensive transnational criminal network.

Members of the syndicate were first detained in 2013 after Chinese authorities intensified pressure on border regions shared with Myanmar to clamp down on widespread fraud and scam operations.

Following their sentencing, the defendants filed appeals, which were later rejected by the courts. Myanmar’s military authorities previously claimed the family’s patriarch, Ming Xuechang, died by suicide in 2023 while attempting to evade arrest.

The case is linked to the rise of so-called “scam parks” across Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, which have expanded into large-scale criminal enterprises. Governments in the region are facing mounting international pressure, including from China and the United States, to curb the activities of such networks.

China remains the world’s leading executioner, carrying out more executions than any other country, often exceeding the combined total of the rest of the world, according to human rights groups.