Chinese authorities have executed 11 people convicted of killing 14 Chinese citizens and running large-scale online scam and gambling operations worth more than $1 billion, according to an official court statement released on Thursday.

The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court said the executions were carried out after the defendants were sentenced to death in September and their subsequent appeals were rejected.

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Those executed included Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, identified by the court as leading figures in the criminal network, as well as Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming, and Luao Jianzhang, who were described as key members of the operations.

The court said the group’s appeal was dismissed in November, although detailed court documents were not made public at the time.

According to Chinese authorities, the group was involved in extensive scam and illegal gambling activities that targeted victims both inside and outside China. The operations were linked to criminal hubs along China’s border with Myanmar, an area that has become notorious for industrial-scale cyber fraud.

Members of the group were detained in November 2023, after China intensified pressure on authorities in border regions to crack down on scam syndicates operating out of Southeast Asia.

Chinese officials have repeatedly accused criminal networks based in Myanmar and neighboring countries of luring or trafficking Chinese nationals into scam compounds, where victims are often forced to carry out online fraud under threat of violence.

Scam compounds, sometimes referred to as “scam parks,” have grown into a major transnational criminal industry across parts of Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. The operations typically involve a mix of trafficked workers and voluntary participants, targeting victims worldwide through romance scams, investment fraud, and illegal online gambling.

Authorities in the region are facing increasing international pressure — particularly from China, the United States, and other affected countries — to dismantle the networks and prosecute those responsible.

China has taken an especially hard line, pursuing suspects aggressively and imposing severe penalties in cases involving deaths, large financial losses, or organized cross-border crime.

The executions underscore Beijing’s continued use of capital punishment in cases it deems to involve extreme criminal harm, particularly where Chinese citizens are killed or large-scale financial crimes threaten social stability.