Two kingpins of the biggest triad crime syndicate in Wenzhou have been sentenced to death, while another boss has received a suspended death sentence.
According to the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court, which heard the case on Monday, the three criminals led a gang involved in casino operations. But disagreements with rivals often culminated in huge street fights.
In June of last year, 140 people took part in a street brawl between syndicate members and another gang. The fight was over ownership rights to a casino in a village in Pingyang county in Wenzhou , Zhejiang . To distinguish who was who, one group wore red gloves, and the other white ones, The Beijing News reports. Two people were killed in the fighting.
The court's verdict said Ying Xiaodu, Ying Kongxiu and Wang Maoshu, who opened the casino in early June, had disagreements with an alleged rival gangster, Pan Pengbing, and his associates. They were from outside Wenzhou and were trying to get a share of the casino. The two Yings received the death sentence and Wang received the suspended one.
On the night of June 14 of last year, they organised an undisclosed number of people, armed with knives, to attack Pan, who fled. Later the two groups agreed to a fight, and each party enlisted about 70 people.
Both sides handed out to their members assorted guns, knives, steel pipes, axes and vests reinforced with steel sheets.