Two alleged organised crime bosses have been arrested following a two-year probe by Chinese and Russian authorities.
Zheng Renhao and Du Xiangu, from Dongning county in Heilongjiang province, allegedly separately ran two 'mafia' gangs totalling 30 members. They embezzled, robbed, beat and blackmailed fellow countrymen trying to make their living in Russia, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Zheng and Du recruited some of their immediate family and friends from Dongning to carry out the robberies and occasionally even attacked Chinese they knew professionally or personally, the report said. Authorities say the two gangs robbed and extorted the equivalent of HK$55 million.
Although police in both countries learned about the existence of Zheng, 28, and his syndicate early on, different languages and jurisdictions complicated the process of collecting evidence and apprehending him. Russian police also wanted Chinese authorities to make the arrests, because penalties under Russian organised crime laws are weak.
According to the report, Dongning police began co-ordinating with Russian authorities in 1999 after they noticed a spate of attacks against Chinese nationals living abroad and sent Chinese officers to Russia to investigate.
By the end of last year, Chinese police working in Russia had accumulated enough evidence to arrest Zheng. They also learned about the activities of Du's gang after arresting several of his members and were able to present enough evidence for the arrest of both men.
