Chinese police detain 16 foreign suspected members of mafia-style gang
Gang members, who reportedly started out as debt collectors, believed to have been involved in drugs-related crimes, fraud and robbery of foreign visitors in Guangzhou
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 29 April, 2015, 4:01pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 29 April, 2015, 4:06pm
Nectar Gan [email protected]
One of the suspected members of the 'Freedom Fighters' gang is handcuffed after being arrested by Guangzhou police. Photo: Photo.sina.com
Chinese police have arrested 16 foreigners who are suspected of being members of a mafia-style gang called “Freedom Fighters” involved in drug dealing and robberies.
Guangzhou police reported on Tuesday that the suspects – who started out working as debt collectors – were suspected to have been involved in five robberies of foreigners visiting Guangzhou, and two drug-related crimes, the China News Service reported.
Two Chinese nationals were also detained at the time.
A policeman told the South China Morning Post that the crackdown was part of a year-long special investigation into crimes including criminal gangs, robberies, drug-related crime, food-and-drug counterfeiting and fraud.
Meanwhile, the public security bureau of Guangdong province has offered a 20,000 yuan (HK$30,500) reward to informants who help in the arrest of 20 suspected gangsters, including an alleged member of the Shenzhen branch of the Sun Yee On Hong Kong triads.
The Freedom Fighters gang, reportedly led by two suspects, identified by police as Odunukwe Chinedu and Abdoulaye, was formed in Guangzhou in 2009.
“[The gang] started out with members working as debt collectors helping foreign businessmen to settle financial disputes, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
It was well organised, with its own set or rules, and had a strict hierarchy – with a well-defined leadership and core membership – and a clear division of labour, the report said.
Members were reportedly divided into three levels, with the top-level leadership making decisions, and a second level, formed of a five-member “senate”, which was responsible for supervising its criminal activities.
The third level consisted of those people who carried out crimes, including robberies, drug dealing, blackmailing and illegal detention.
The gang even had its own priest and accountant, the newspaper reported.
Regular events were held every year during which the gang handed out special uniforms, scarves and hats to members.
Those people who refused to join the gang would be beaten up by existing members, the report claimed.
Police said they began to investigate the gang after the robbery of a foreign businessman in Guangdong last year.
Since January police had allegedly seized large quantities of drugs, including cocaine and marihuana, and also the uniforms of members during three raids in Guangzhou, Foshan and Dongguan, the Guangzhou Daily reported.
A police officer told the Post that in recent years there had been an increase in the number of foreigners coming to Guangzhou on business, who later became involved in drugs-related crime.
Many of those involved in such crimes were from Africa, he added.
