Prosecutors have charged 73 people with 19 crimes, including
murder, alleging they were all members of an organized crime gang
that terrorized part of a central China province.
The accused appeared in the Loudi Municipal Intermediate
People's Court, Hunan Province, on charges of murder, assault with
intent to injure, inciting violence, robbery, blackmail, public
fighting and disorder, illegal detention, kidnap, rape, and other
violent crimes, according to the Loudi Municipal People's
Procuratorate.
The gang allegedly committed the crimes on more than 180
occasions between 2002 and 2006 in Loudi and neighboring Lianyuan
City, Shuangfeng County and Xiangxiang City, leaving four people
dead and 52 injured, 10 of which seriously.
Ringleader Long Shiming, 30, a native of Wanbao Township of
Loudi, was arrested by police in April last year.
"They severely destroyed local economic order and social life,"
a procurator said.
China has stepped up the crackdown on organized crimes this
year.
Police in north China's Hebei Province arrested 37 alleged gang
members led by Yang Shukuan in Tangshan City on charges including
involvement in organized crime, intimidation, theft, fraud,
inciting violence, public fighting and disorder, and illegal
possession of firearms, the Hebei Provincial Department of Public
Security said last week.
Police seized 330 rounds of ammunition and 35 firearms,
including 19 sporting guns and four small-bore rifles.
More than 40 people were involved in the gang and almost 100
police officers from across the province were still investigating
the case and seeking other alleged gang members.
Also in Hebei, the Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate People's
Court last week sentenced 14 gang members to death for murder and
other violent crimes while another four received life
imprisonment.
Ringleaders Zhang Baoyi, Gao Yuehui, He Pidong and their
accomplices were convicted of 19 crimes, including involvement in
organized crime, murder, assault with intent to injure, robbery,
extortion, the illegal possession and trade of firearms, and public
fighting and disorder.
The gang, charged in connection with 38 criminal cases,
allegedly monopolized the road haulage business from Shijiazhuang
to several nearby cities by means of violence and forcibly jacked
up prices since February 2003.
China's law enforcement agencies have cracked 125 cases and
prosecuted 246 suspects involved in organized crime from the
beginning of 2006 to March this year, government statistics
show.
(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2007)