Police have arrested 19 suspects thought to be members of a huge underground criminal gang in Guangzhou and Macao, Guangzhou Public Security Bureau said on Wednesday.
According to police, the leaders of the criminal gang are allegedly Guangzhou residents Li Deliang and Mai Guoqing, both of whom have been arrested.
Li apparently started his underworld career in 1996 and collected protection fees from residents and businesses in Guangzhou.
Mai was a member of a gang in Macao. He was sent back to Guangzhou after owing money to gambling houses.
Li and Mai met in 2001 and began to establish their large, underworld criminal gang.
Police told a press conference on Wednesday that they have so far seized 10 guns, 276 bullets, one grenade as well as other weapons belonging to the gang.
The investigation has also shown that the gang was involved in kidnapping and blackmail. Police also believe the criminals robbed property worth 1 million yuan (US$120,482) and had taken more than 3 million yuan (US$361,446) from people who the gang claimed owed them.
In February, Guangzhou Public Security Bureau arrested two members of the gang in connection with a kidnapping case.
Li and Mai were first captured by Guangzhou police at the end of March.
It is believed that the gang's criminal activities also spread to Shunde, Dongguan, Shanghai and Beijing.
Meanwhile, police pointed out that recreational places and managers' awareness of the law should be further strengthened.
An official from Guangzhou Public Security Bureau who refused to give his name said businesses involved had not told police about the gang to whom they were paying protection fees - even though this took place over a period of six years.
The official said the businesses had kept silent for different reasons.
Some were afraid that the gang would want revenge if they had told the police, others needed the protection of a large secret society as they themselves took part in illegal activities, whilst some managers used the power of the underground society to repress others in the same trade.
It is alleged that a nightclub in Guangzhou paid Li 5,000 yuan (US$602) and asked him to threaten another nightclub in Panyu which were rivals in business.
Within half an hour, Li led more than 50 members of his gang to Panyu and threatened the manager of the nightclub with a gun.
The owner of the club in Panyu refused to confess to police that the gang carried guns in a bid to avoid serious revenge.
(China Daily May 17, 2002)
