BAO’AN has so far investigated 16 officials who served as “protective umbrellas” behind gangs, in a crackdown launched in the beginning of the year to sweep up organized crime.

According to the district’s Party discipline watchdog, the officials were involved in 16 cases of organized crime involving a total of more than 15.13 million yuan (US$2.23 million).

The campaign is an implementation of a document issued in January by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council that stressed a campaign against organized crime should involve fighting corruption, including lower-level corrupt officials, and deal with the “protective umbrellas” of gang crime.

The document said that disciplinary agencies and police should find and tackle the corruption behind gang crime.

Disciplinary agencies at all levels should deal with “protective umbrellas” and investigate no matter who is involved.

Organized crime is often deeply interwoven with corruption. Previous cases have shown that behind gang-related crimes are usually corrupt officials who offer shelter to the criminals. Therefore, the campaign will particularly target the officials who protect them, the document said.

Meanwhile, Bao’an police have redoubled their efforts to fight crimes like drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution in the first eight months of the year. By early September, the district had witnessed a decrease of 22.3 percent in criminal cases and 43.3 percent in cases involving drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution, according to the Bao’an Daily.

The number of gangs busted by Bao’an police in the first nine months tripled compared to the same period last year, local police said.

Eighteen drug trafficking cases were busted by Sept. 7, with a total seizure of over one ton of drugs, pushing the district into the top three among China’s 3,338 districts and counties.

(SD News)