Gangsters jailed as search for relics continues

Sentencing details were released recently in connection with a Mafia-style tomb-raiding, gambling and loansharking gang that was broken up in 2016.

Yuncheng Intermediate People's Court in Shanxi province handed life sentences in February to the gang's leaders - four brothers named Hou Jinliang, Hou Jinfa, Hou Jinhai and Hou Jinjiang. Five others were also sentenced to life in prison.

They were among 466 suspects detained in 2016 as part of a crackdown on a gang that had robbed tombs across Shanxi, including in the Yangyu protected area in Yuncheng's Wenxi county. It also ran illegal gambling and money-lending operations.