More than 700 criminal gang members have been publicly detained or sentenced to labor camps recently in Hangzhou city, capital of Zhejiang Province in east China.
A spokesman for the city's Bureau of Public Security said the move marks the formal beginning of the local "strike hard" campaign, as part of a nationwide anti-crime drive.
By April 15, police in the city had smashed more than 100 criminal gangs and tracked down over 900 gang members, the spokesman said.
One of the gangs to fall in the campaign was known by local people as "the three brothers of the Xing's". They are suspected of having collected protection fees at three major poultry markets since 1996 and being responsible for 50 cases of deliberate injury, robbery and street fighting.
Another gang headed by Wang Gang, a man from Henan Province is suspected of operating an underground syndicate of stealing, robbing, transferring and selling automobiles.
The police have confirmed 13 cases involving one million yuan worth of stolen vehicles.
The crackdown campaign has received warm responses from citizens, the spokesman said.
(Xinhua 04/28/2001)
