Scores of police gripping black clubs guarded a courthouse in southern China on Tuesday — the first day of a trial for two alleged gangster bosses, the “Hammerhead” and “Spicy Qin,” accused of using violence to build an empire that included everything from underground casinos to cement factories, truck lines and poultry markets.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse in the small southern coastal city of Yangjiang, Guangdong Province, hoping to get a glimpse of the alleged mob kingpins — who arrived under tight security in a police bus with black ski masks over their faces to protect them from attack and publicity.
The defendants Xu Jianqiang (許建強), known as the “Hammerhead,” and his partner, Lin Guoqin (林國欽), or “Spicy Qin,” were arrested in November 2007 in Yangjiang.
Court clerks said there were no open seats in the courtroom for an Associated Press reporter, and officials refused to provide copies of the indictment against Xu, Lin and 41 of their alleged henchmen. But a notice taped to a courthouse wall said the men were accused of leading a gangster, or “black society,” organization that engaged in fraud, tax evasion, armed robbery, illegal detention, malicious injury and gambling, “among other crimes.”
If found guilty, they could be sentenced to death for such a long list of offenses. The court hasn’t said if they’ve entered a plea for all the charges yet, and their lawyers haven’t made public comments.
But the state-run Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday that Xu pleaded innocent to charges of premeditated murder and gun dealing.
One court spectator said the defendants were known to have owned casinos all over the city.
“I gambled in one once. It had baccarat, everything,” said the middle-aged man, who only gave his surname, Li, because he feared the police and gangs. “These guys were so big and powerful, the police didn’t dare touch them for a long time.”
Before his arrest, Lin held high-ranking posts in several business groups and had a seat in Yangjiang’s local legislature.
Citing court documents, the Southern Metropolis Daily has described the defendants’ rise and fall. Xu, who had a reputation as a street fighter, and Lin, who was a small-time gambler, met in an illegal casino in 1990 and quickly started working together, it said, with Lin using the younger Xu as his muscle against possible gambling cheats.
The two began stockpiling guns for a gang, and the turning point in their careers came in 1992 when a major Yangjiang crime boss lost a large sum of money to Lin while gambling, the paper said. Xu beat the crime boss up and had to go into hiding.
Two years later Xu invited the boss to a meeting so they could discuss reconciliation. At the meeting, the report said, one of Xu’s henchmen shot and killed the crime boss. The killing catapulting Xu and Lin to the top of the crime community.
In 1994, they began building their casino network in hotels, resorts and health clubs. Two years later, they moved into Yangjiang’s lucrative fishing and ice-making industries. By the time of their arrest in 2007, they controlled 43 companies.
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