The southwestern municipality of Chongqing has wrapped up an eight-month crackdown on triadrelated crime that led to the detention of thousands of suspects.
At a meeting on Sunday, Liu Guanglei, the city's top party official overseeing law enforcement, said 3,348 people were snared for 'connections with underground activities' and '63 criminal syndicates and a number of their protectors were crushed', the Chongqing Evening News reported.
Six prominent individuals, including Chongqing Public Security Bureau chief Wang Lijun, were named Heroes of the Chongqing People for their contributions to the crackdown, while another 455 received merits for their efforts in the campaign.
Giving no details, the report said the meeting marked the end of the campaign and beginning of preparations for what to do next.
Expressing his gratitude to the 'heroes', Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai said that up to 14 major triad groups had been smashed, clearing the way for better development of the municipality.
However, some observers have criticised Bo for seeking fame and political advancement at the expense of the rule of law in the campaign to wipe out local crime syndicates.
Former People's Daily deputy editor Zhou Ruijin wrote in an article carried yesterday by jcrb.com - a news portal affiliated with the mainland's Supreme People's Procuratorate - that Beijing-based lawyer Li Zhuang might have erred but the Chongqing authorities' violation of the principle of procedural justice was even more serious.