A criminal gang labeled by police as the most violent in Guangzhou- a city already known to be a hub for dangerous criminal activity went on trial this week. BON's Kelda Yuen has more details on the case that involves 19 gang members now facing charges for drug trafficking and homicide.
The massive mafia-style gang trials continue to unfold in the southern Metropolis of Chongqing. The latest case sees a gang boss sentenced for doing everything from laundering mountains of cash to manipulating the local pork market.
Wang Xingqiang was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for his role as the head of a gang that laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars using violence and intimidation. He was also fined more than $300,000 by the No.1 Intermediate People’s Court of Chongqing.
It’s a case that reads like it’s been plucked straight from the pages of a crime novel – or the storyline of The Sopranos.
Gun running, prostitution rings, gruesome murders … and a criminal web so huge it stretched to include dozens of cops, billionaire businessmen … and even the former head of the city’s justice bureau. Two courts in Chongqing have opened trials involving more than 600 people accused of being involved in mafia-style gangs.
Everything looks above board. But it was boats like this that a 160-strong gang used to carry out the country's biggest-ever mobile phone smuggling operation, worth more than a billion dollars.
The first members of this gang have been jailed by judges in southern China.