Undeground-casino suspect back in custody

An escaped suspect surrendered to police after the Guangdong provincial department public department issued an online wanted list of 20 runaway suspects on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Guangdong provincial department of public security on Wednesday night.

Li Jinlong, 44, arrived in a police substation in Huizhou in eastern part of Guangdong on Wednesday afternoon. A suspected triad member, Li admitted to having participated in running casinos in the Mafia-like criminal gang headed by Ye Jian, the statement said.

Ye’s triad gang was busted in August 2012, and Ye had been pronounced guilty in a hearing in the second instance of trial in Guangdong High People’s Court on Aug 1.

Li was suspect of operating underground casinos to earn big profits for Ye’s gang in previous years. But Li escaped when Ye’s gang was busted.

Ye’s gang, which used to be active in the city of Huizhou, had once posed a serious threat to local social stability and people’s lives and safety of properties.

Earlier this month, Zheng Dong, deputy director-general of the Guangdong provincial department of public security, had pledged to fight violent gangs at the grass-root levels in the southern province, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Zheng said more concrete and effective measures will be introduced to help crack down on local township and village gangs in the coming months.

In recent years, illegal gangs in the area have been using violence to monopolize markets and have been involved in the illegal trade and possession of weapons, threatening local social stability and security.

“Top priorities will be given to fight the sinister and evil forces in the 24 counties and districts in 17 cities in the province, including Baiyun and Yuexiu districts in Guangzhou, Bao’an and Longgang districts in Shenzhen special economic zone and Nanhai district in Foshan, in the following months,” he said.

Lin Weixiong, director of the criminal investigation bureau under the Guangdong provincial department of public security, said that the gangs that have become active in some areas have posed a serious threat to grass-roots government and organizations in Guangdong.

Lin said more campaigns will be launched against the gangs in counties, townships and villages before the end of the year.

According to Lin, police across Guangdong have detained 7,906 suspects involved in criminal gangs in a bust that took place throughout the province.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn