Triad boss 'Broken Tooth' Wan Kuok-koi, jailed on Tuesday for 15 years, could face another trial - this time over the attempted murder of a gambling inspector.
Prosecutors say an indictment is being prepared in which they hope to allege that Wan, 45, masterminded a plot to kill Lieutenant-Colonel Manuel Antonio Apolinario three years ago.
Colonel Apolinario, 50, a key prosecution witness in Wan's organised crime trial, was shot in the face and neck by a motorcycle gunman in November 1996. The former Portuguese commando survived.
The gunman, believed by police sources to be a mainland hitman hired by Wan, is still at large.
'The indictment is under preparation, no final decision has been made and the papers are still a matter of judicial secrecy,' a judicial source said.
It is the first time Wan has been publicly connected to the murder attempt.