The 34 members of what was described by police as Beijing's first mafia-style gang were last night beginning lengthy prison sentences.

The city's municipal higher people's court handed down sentences ranging from three-and-a-half years to 20 years to the gangsters at their trial over the weekend.

They were found guilty of 13 charges, including blackmail, gambling and the possession and sale of firearms.

Police said the gang, which had been operating in Beijing's northeast Shunyi District since 1996, was the first organized crime outfit to prey on the city since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

Gang boss Hu Yadong, who was found guilty of 13 charges including bribery and grievous bodily harm, was jailed for 20 years as well as being fined 2.62 million yuan (US$327,500).

His younger brother, Hu Yafeng, was jailed for 19 years and received an identical fine.

The other 32 gangsters, who ranged in age from 18 to 54, received jail terms ranging from three-and-a-half years to 18 years.

The court was told that the crime ring went into action in August 1996, when Hu Yadong hired several men to beat up Zhang Guoli, who ran a local garage and butchery.

Zhang had incurred Hu's wrath by cutting back on the amount of business he put through Hu's auto repair service.

The gang's response was bloody in a vicious attack they hacked off half of Zhang's right ear.

Hu Yadong later bribed three policemen and prison guards to get his men out of jail.

He later moved on to collaborating with another gangster Chang Yousheng to swindle money from swill cart drivers in the Gaoliying area.

The trail saw his accomplice Chang jailed for six years, while the three policemen were dealt with at another hearing.

Also convicted was Zhang Qiusheng, 43, a former lawyer with the Jingji Law Firm in Beijing.

Egged on by Hu Yadong, Zhang stole 80,000 yuan (US$10,000) by promising convicts he could help them "buy their way out of prison." He was jailed for five and a half years.

The hearing was at least the fourth gangster trial in China this year.

The Ministry of Public Security launched a crackdown on gang-related crimes in February after its top official warned that gang crime was on the rise, as society went through tremendous economic and social changes.

Ministry figures released in July showed that more than 1,000 gang-related crimes were under investigation.

(China Daily October 17, 2006)