A triad boss and his top aide were executed in Chongqing yesterday, hours after the mainland's top court endorsed their death penalties, media in the southwestern municipality reported.
Yang Tianqing was the first triad kingpin put to death since a crackdown on the city's rampant underworld activities was launched in June.
Fourteen have been arrested.
The executions took place within hours of the Supreme People's Court's decision to uphold the death sentences for Yang and his right-hand man, Liu Chenghu, yesterday morning, cqnews.net, a news portal affiliated with the city's publicity department, reported.
Yang, 36, was convicted of a series of crimes, ranging from illegally injuring others and kidnapping to loan-sharking and illegal debt-collecting, after organising and leading an unnamed triad-like organisation since 2005, the report said.
He was sentenced to death by the Chongqing No1 Intermediate People's Court on October 21, the same day the court sentenced Liu to death for participating in a triad-like organisation, murder and illegally injuring others.
Both men lodged appeals against the first trial, but they were rejected by the high court in Chongqing on December 14.