Beijing: A top gangster in western China
has been executed as part of a major crackdown on organized
crime, state media reported on Friday.
Chen Ming, 36, was convicted of heading a criminal
organisation that ran various scams, sold drugs, operated
illegal casinos, and demanded protection money, the official
Xinhua News Agency said.
The gang was also responsible for the death of one
person and assaults on eight others over the past decade,
Xinhua said. It did not say whether Chen was directly
implicated in the violence.
Chen, who was convicted last year by a court in the
city of Chongqing, was executed Thursday, the same day the
Supreme People's Court upheld his sentence, Xinhua said.
Thirteen members of Chen's gang were given sentences
of three years to life in prison. The case is part of a
crackdown in sprawling Chongqing that has netted hundreds of
suspects, including 14 high-ranking government and police
officials. Six gang members in the city have been sentenced to
death for crimes including murder and blackmail, of which Chen
was apparently the first to be executed.
PTI
First Published: Friday, November 27, 2009, 21:13