Police in Southwest China's Sichuan Province have broken up 64 gangs in the past two years and rounded up "dozens" of suspected criminals.

The provincial police department yesterday released information on 10 high-profile gang-related cases. The Ministry of Public Security highly praised the Sichuan police for their work in cracking down on the gangs.

The biggest gang had more than 50 members and was broken up in Fushun County in June 2001. Police captured two pistols and confiscated three top-grade cars.

The county's former senior Communist Party official, Cai Rongheng, was convicted of giving support to the gang, which was involved in scores of criminal activities.

Lu Zuo, head of the provincial police department, said: "One major characteristic of the cases is that the gangs tried every means they could to establish connections with Party and government officials." The gangs used these officials as a protective umbrella, Lu added.

In the past two years, the Sichuan police found that more than 30 officials, including county governors, backed up the gangs.

About 300 suspected criminals allegedly took part in gang-related crime, such as murdering, hijacking and trafficking in the top 10 cases.

(China Daily August 4, 2003)