A court yesterday handed down the death penalty to the former deputy head of anti-narcotics efforts in China's most populous metropolis, Chongqing, on charges of murder, graft and drug trafficking.
Luo Li had been collaborating with drug dealers in Chongqing since 2005 and took 1.2 million yuan ($233,038) in bribes to turn a blind eye to the activities of 2 of them, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a court statement.
The 2 drug dealers got death sentences too, it added.
Luo also ordered the murder of another drug dealer who had threatened to testify against him, Xinhua said.
Death penalties in China are automatically reviewed by the Supreme Court before being carried out.
"Luo was one of the police officers ensnared in a gang crime crackdown that gripped the nation with revelations of a thriving underworld in Chongqing led by mob bosses who acted with impunity under the protection of corrupt officials," Xinhua added.
Chongqing's flamboyant Communist Party boss Bo Xilai has gained popularity nationwide with a high-profile clampdown on crime, in what some analysts see as a bid to shoehorn himself into the nation's top political body during a 2012 leadership reshuffle.
Chongqing courts have sentenced dozens of people to death or long jail terms over the past several months as part of the crackdown in the sprawling city of more than 30 million.
Last July, China executed Chongqing's former Justice Chief after he was found guilty of protecting gangs, rape and bribery, among other charges.
The government's campaign has been marked by graphic tales of murder and extortion committed by cops-turned-robbers, as citizens besieged government offices waving bloody photos and swords allegedly used by the gangs.
The deep ties between police and organised crime hark back to China's tumultuous years before the Communist Party won power in 1949, when warlords and rich businessmen had close connections with the criminal underworld.
Source: Reuters, January 31, 2011
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