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Minnie Chan

Chongqing  has wrapped up the first stage of a massive crackdown on organised crime, saying all 14 local gangs  have been broken up and more than 2,000 people arrested.
The municipal government will next focus on cleaning up judicial and law-enforcement agencies.
Because more police officers had focused on the anti-crime campaign, the rate of crime reports had dropped 40 per cent in the past three months this year compared with last year, the Chongqing Daily   quoted a spokesman of the municipality's Public Security Bureau as saying yesterday. 
It said police had seized  drugs, illegal knives and at least 1,700 guns since more than 7,000 officers were mobilised in the crackdown, which began on June 3. 
The 2,000 suspects will be charged with more than 50 different crimes, including murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery and drug trafficking.
In the second stage, all police officers  would be reshuffled to different departments and police stations, and 1,300 senior cadres in procuratorial and judicial departments would be moved to different posts by the end of this year, the report said.
The massive rotation is aimed at preventing officials setting up power bases or becoming involved in organised crime. The  crackdown  exposed gang bosses who were heads or members of the local legislature.
The daily said  24 triad bosses from the 14 key gangs had  been formally arrested, including Chen Mingliang  , who is allegedly the top gang boss in Chongqing and a delegate  to the district People's Congress,  and former model policeman Yue Cun. 
The six-month crackdown has made headlines across the mainland not only because of its scale, but  because of the profiles of those arrested. Among them are three billionaires, 50 government officials, six district police chiefs and the head of the municipality's Justice Bureau, Wen Qiang  . 
Chen and another triad boss, Ma Dang, allegedly ran nightclubs and an underground casino under the protection of Wen, who also used to be deputy head of the municipality's police force. Wen was found to have amassed 1 billion yuan (HK$1.14 billion) in property and cash.
The crackdown was triggered after a man was gunned down in downtown Chongqing on June 3, sparking concerns about deteriorating law and order in the triad-plagued southwestern municipality.  
The  administration  has banned department heads at all levels from leaving Chongqing during the eight-day National Day holiday, to show its determination to keep the momentum of the crackdown going. 
Officials will also form a 5,000-strong team to safeguard the municipality throughout the holiday.



Chongqing gang purge snares 2,000