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.

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The Chongqing municipal police bureau is looking to recruit 150 volunteers to keep an eye on the city's more than 30,000 police officers.

The task will allow the "grassroots inspectors" to directly challenge corruption in the police system and monitor the entire law enforcement system.

The bureau is now accepting applications from healthy men under the age 60 and women under the age of 55, who are residents of Chongqing. The last day to apply is June. 9th.

The recruitment drive comes after a string of corruption cases that resulted in a number of senior officers being thrown in prison for protecting criminal gangs.

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While a drug war continues to claim lives on the US-Mexico border, China is battling its own influx of drugs from the south. Andrew Livingstone reports on the Shenzhen police successes in anti-drug stings this year.

The Chongqing gang busts have gripped the nation for a variety of reasons: the sheer scale of the operation, the sleazy findings and corruption which has been uncovered, but also – and perhaps most startling of all – is the collusion of so many senior party officials and policemen.

The nation's news cameras have been a semi-permanent presence in Chongqing recently, as the infamous Chongqing gang busts continue to uncover more high-profile criminals and shady underground dealings.

This time, the accused in the dock of the Chongqing No 5 Intermediate People's Court is a former policeman, whose charge sheet includes crimes alleged to have taken place while he was still an officer in uniform.