Millionaires, police chiefs, illegal casinos, loan sharks and a mafia-busting cop in hot pursuit of hundreds of gangsters: It is not the plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie, but a crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing, China, and its “protective umbrella” of rich and powerful contacts.
Police announced this week they were searching for 469 suspects from 14 gangs — on top of the 1,544 already detained. They are holding 19 alleged leaders and issued the photographs of 67 more for whom they already have warrants.
The Xinhua state news agency reported that scores of police officers were accused of protecting gangs and that three millionaires were under investigation.
Wen Qiang (文強), director of Chongqing’s judicial bureau and a former police chief in the city, is also under internal investigation, suspected of protecting criminals. His successor as deputy police chief, Wang Lijun (王立軍), has a reputation as a “mafia buster” and was promoted to the top job earlier this year, amid a major anti-crime drive launched by former Chinese minister of commerce Bo Xilai (薄熙來), who became the city’s top official two years ago.
Wang said gangs had run illegal loan businesses worth as much as 30 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) — equivalent to a third of the city’s annual revenue.
The South China Morning Post said the 40-year-old police chief had 20 scars from knife and bullet wounds, and was once in a coma for 10 days because of his long-term battle with the triads.
Last month, he told a conference that organized crime was hiding behind legal businesses and had entered many industries through blackmail, extortion and illegal loans.
He said that gangs in Chongqing were known for “having a long history, wide coverage, deep connections, huge membership, high quality and vicious influence.”
Police said they had seized 48 guns, frozen or confiscated 1.53 billion yuan in assets — including those held overseas — and received more than 9,000 tip-offs. Local media said on Wednesday that murders had fallen to their lowest seasonal rate for five years.
Chen Tianben (陳天本), professor of public security at the Chinese People’s Public Security University, said: “I think the police action in Chongqing must be related to the recent political change of the local authority. But it is hard to say whether the change of the officials led to the crackdown, or the crackdown on the gangs dragged down more officials.”
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