FOUR officials and soldiers with Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Checkpoint Inspection Station stood trial Tuesday for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

    According to the prosecutors, the officials Chen Jianqun, Zhang Jingye and soldiers Chen Yue and Lin Zhenqian took 5 million yuan (US$806,452) in bribes from a drug trafficker, Lin Kaiyong, in exchange for setting him free after catching him at the Xincheng Checkpoint.

    Lin Kaiyong was suspected of running the largest drug syndicate in Guangdong’s history. More than 3,000 armed police officers stormed Boshe Village in Lufeng in December 2013.

    Lin Kaiyong was caught during the raid on Boshe Village, which was involved in manufacturing massive amounts of crystal meth.

    Lin Kaiyong and his 22 gang members stood trial in Foshan earlier this month. He played a key role in the village’s drug making and trafficking. He purchased materials from Fujian Province and sold them to drug makers in the village. He was also involved in money laundering.

    Lin Zhenqian and Chen Yue intercepted Lin Kaiyong’s car in July 2011 for an inspection at the checkpoint and found 20 million yuan in 10 cartons in the trunk. Lin Kaiyong offered 1 million yuan to let him go.

    The soldiers refused the bribe and reported it to their supervisors. Chen Jianqun, at the order of Lin Kunsong, the head of the Xincheng inspection station, demanded 5 million yuan. Zhang Jingye, the acting office director of the inspection station, ordered three soldiers to remove 5 million yuan from the trunk and set Lin Kaiyong free.

    Lin Kunsong and Chen Jianqun each shared 1.6 million yuan. The rest of the money was shared among Zhang and the other soldiers.

    Chen Jianqun was probed in August last year. Zhang Jingye, Lin Zhenqian and Chen Yue surrendered to police after they learned of Chen’s probe.

    At the court hearing, Chen Jianqun said he only shared 1.05 million yuan because the other 450,000 yuan was the money that Lin Kunsong owed to him.

    Zhang Jingye admitted of taking bribes, but he denied abusing his power. He said he felt sorry for the soldiers who would have had a chance to receive awards for rejecting the bribery.

    “As an official on duty, I report to my supervisor. After receiving reports from soldiers, Chen demanded that I talk with Lin Kaiyong. I had to act on an order from Lin Kunsong to set the drug trafficker free,” Zhang Jingye said.

    Zhang pocketed 800,000 yuan, but he said Lin Kunsong later asked for 400,000 yuan back to share with the drivers.

    Zhang felt sorry for the soldiers, who otherwise would have had a chance to study at a military school as a reward for catching the drug dealer.

    “The soldiers could have rejected the bribes of 1 million yuan, but had to act at the orders of their supervisors and become criminals,” Zhang said.

    Lin Zhenqian and the others each shared 300,000 yuan.

    “I was ordered to remove some cartons out of the trunk and later found it contained cash,” said Lin Zhenqian. He was sent to military school to continue his studies, but surrendered to authorities in Shenzhen after learning that Chen Jianqun had been questioned.

    The trial continued.

    (Han Ximin)