A FORMER traffic policeman with the vehicles management station of Shenzhen Municipal Traffic Police Bureau stood trial at Yantian District People’s Court on Wednesday. It is alleged that he had taken bribes from scalpers, and colluded with them by offering “express lanes” and “special services” to some drivers by letting them jump the queue.

    During his tenure from December 2013 till July 2014, the policeman, Luo Qiang, and a former colleague, Ouyang Zhihong, took advantage of their posts to helping drivers cut the line and receive permits for their vehicles allowing them a shorter waiting time.

    Luo and Ouyang admitted at the court Wednesday that they had violated certain rules when serving their duties. It is reported that the two men took 76,600 yuan (US$11,957) through their transgression in total.

    The two did not work alone, but with the help of several scalpers who approached drivers arriving at the vehicle management center. If the drivers were in a rush, they would pay an agreed amount and then get an earlier number.

    According to a few scalpers who worked with Luo and Ouyang, the “special service” of dealing with renewing a driver’s license cost 15 yuan, transferring ownership of a used car cost 20 to 30 yuan, and it would be around 100 yuan to help register non-Shenzhen cars as a local vehicle.

    If the drivers were not ready with all the required documents, the services could cost even more. For those who wanted to have their licenses released sooner, it would cost as much as 200 yuan.

    Before May last year, drivers could go directly to Luo’s No. 17 registration counter with a ticket bought for the “special service” provided by scalpers. But after the center upgraded its numbering system, which distributes the number tickets from a ticket machine, Luo thought of another solution to help drivers jump the queue.

    “Instead of dealing with queries in order, I would call out the numbers of the drivers who paid extra money and they would have their issues resolved before others,” said Luo.

    However the “express service” earned Luo and Ouyang even more money. Normally it would take two to three days for various permits to be issued, but by manipulating background processing, Luo and Ouyang could issue permits in only two to three hours.

    The traffic police bureau launched a self-examination and more than 40 staffers, including Ouyang, were investigated for illegal operations in July 2014. Luo felt anxious when he saw Ouyang being detained and transferred 80,000 yuan to a public account. Luo was busted before he could turn himself in last year. The court said it would announce the verdicts soon. (Zhang Qian)