Thousands of crime gangs targeted in China crackdown
- Head of one syndicate in Shenzhen with links to Hong Kong triad sentenced to 25 years in jail
- Dozens of officials also suspected of giving protection to the gang, Guangdong vice governor says
More than 3,000 organised crime gangs – including a major Shenzhen-based syndicate with close ties to triads in Hong Kong – have been swept up in a nationwide crackdown, according to China’s top law enforcement body.
On Wednesday, Wang Hongxiang, a senior official with the Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, said that by the end of last month, authorities had cracked down on 3,291 gangs and punished 77,669 corrupt officials or people who protected the gangs.
The action was part of a national campaign against organised crime that started in 2018.
Wang said one case involved Chen Yongsen, a triad leader connected to Sun Yee On, one of the biggest and oldest triads in Hong Kong. He was detained by police in the southern city of Shenzhen in March 2018 and, in May this year, sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined 75 million yuan (US$10.8 million).
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court said Chen’s crimes ranged from money laundering and blackmail to robbery and organising a crime syndicate.
Two other members of the gang were given suspended death sentences, another was jailed for life, and 70 others sentenced from 16 months to 20 years.