9,200 arrested in N China's Inner Mongolia in anti-crime campaign

HOHHOT -- More than 9,200 suspects have been arrested in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in a crackdown against crimes, the regional public security department said.

Over 1,000 criminal gangs have been busted in more than 7,300 cases involving 14.72 billion yuan ($2.1 billion). Many of the cases happened in rural areas and were related to mineral resources and ecological crimes, said Zhang Xiaomin, deputy head of the department.

In addition, 486 public-sector employees have been punished for colluding with criminal gangs.

Criminal and public security cases dropped by 3.8 percent and 14.4 percent respectively in the autonomous region from January to October, official data showed.