China’s largest province by population and economy, Guangdong, has announced the dismantling of 90 new types of organized crime gangs and the arrest of 1,201 criminal suspects.
The Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department released a statement on Tuesday evening saying that the province had launched the first round of a targeted crackdown on organized crime, dismantling 90 new types of criminal gangs, solving 353 criminal cases such as provoking trouble, forced transactions, extortion, and arresting 1,201 suspects, and sealing, freezing, and seizing a large amount of assets involved in the cases.
The report stated that this round of the crackdown focused on new forms of organized crime, such as “soft violence” debt collection, malicious claims, extortion based on public opinion, staged accidents to demand compensation, forced consumption, online “trap loans,” and internet violence.
Data shows that since the beginning of this year, public security authorities across Guangdong have busted 8 criminal organizations and 226 mafia-like gangs.
Chinese police previously reported that during the first round of its deepening crackdown on organized crime, over 1,000 criminal gangs were taken down, more than 8,200 suspects arrested, and over 5,400 criminal cases solved.
Chen Wenqing, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, announced at a recent national meeting on the special campaign against organized crime that the campaign would be deepened. He emphasized the need to “eradicate all tumors eroding the fabric of society according to the law,” further study and understand the new trends, features, and patterns of organized crime under current conditions, maintain a strong deterrent posture, and persist in striking hard whenever crime emerges.
Chen Wenqing stressed that it is vital to “make sure not a single organized criminal is missed, and do not mistakenly label the innocent as criminals.” He called for the courage to “turn the blade inward,” and to resolutely crack down on the officials who shelter criminal gangs.
From 2018 to 2020, China previously carried out a high-profile three-year special campaign against organized crime, focusing on local mafia forces and officials who provided them with protection. Official data show that during those three years, police nationwide dismantled 3,644 organized crime groups and 11,675 mafia-like criminal organizations. Since 2021, the authorities have announced the normalization of the anti-crime campaign.
However, this campaign-style crackdown has also sparked public debate, including concerns that in some areas, police and officials, under pressure to meet work targets and political demands, have exaggerated the nature of certain cases and expanded the scope of the crackdown.