Cheng Mingliang press his finger print on confession

Gangsters under custody

Former district legislator and business tycoon Chen Mingliang, accused of running a mafia-style gang, was brought for his trial under heavy security, as hundreds of residents crowded the gates of the court to witness the proceedings yesterday.

Chen, 52, with his 34-member gang, faces 16 charges of abetting prostitution, drug trafficking, murder and corruption.

The prosecution said Chen's gang was formed at his hotel, which allegedly was a "haven for prostitution and drug trafficking" since it opened in 2001.

It accused Chen's gang of murdering two people and injuring three others in Chongqing municipality's Dadukou, Jiulongpo and Yuzhong districts.

The indictment further accused the gang of reaping a profit of 26 million yuan ($3.8 million) from prostitution, extracting HK$58.8 million ($7.6 million) as commission for organizing gambling trips for rich businessmen to the Macao Special Administration Region in the past three years, and earning about 60 million yuan from persuading people to address their issues by resorting to violence.

The indictment also accused Ma Dang, 55, co-owner of Chen's hotel, of offering 130,000 yuan and $30,000 in bribes to the former deputy director of the Chongqing public security bureau, Peng Changjian, to protect the gang.

According to the indictment, the gang referred to itself as the "second government" to publicize its power and help recover debts by means of violence.

The charges left several city residents shocked, considering Chen's public identity was strikingly different prior to his arrest earlier this year.

Besides holding a seat in the People's Congress of the city's central Yuzhong district, Chen was also the chairman of the board of directors of the Jiangzhou Industrial Group, which invested billions of yuan in real estate projects and was listed as one of the top 50 private companies in the district.

Chen is just one of many well-known businessmen and high-level government officials who were placed under arrest and deprived of their political status during the city's crackdown on organized crime since June.

Chongqing police have resolved more than 73,000 criminal cases and seized 3,000 members of 272 gangs in the crackdown.

Police statistics show that before the crackdown, the city had 1,400 murders unsolved and almost 500 murder suspects at large. Last year, 955 cases involving illegal possession of firearms were reported in Chongqing.

Security for Chen's trial, which is expected to last about a week, was unusually tight. In addition to the usual three layers of police cordons outside the courtroom, fully armed paramilitary police were stationed for assistance. )