'Godmother' of crime gang stands trial
- Source: Global Times
- [03:03 October 15 2009]
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Xie Caiping, the alleged leader of an underworld gang, appeared in a local court in Chongqing . She is charged with organized crimes, drug dealing, gambling, bribery and illegally detaining people. Police released this picture of Xie being arrested in July. Photo: CFP
By Huang Jingjing
A former senior police official's sister-in-law who once boasted, "My brother is God. He is the law," went on trial in Chongqing Wedesday, accused as the ringleader of an underworld gang that allegedly netted 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) from illicit gambling casinos and drug dens over the past nine years.
Xie Caiping, sister-in-law of the former director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, stood trial in the No. 5 Intermediate People's Court, along with 21 members of her alleged crime syndicate.
Police say the 46-year-old defendant is the only female crime boss among the kingpins of 19 Chongqing gangs broken up in a highly publicized crackdown on organized crime this June.
Xie, who was detained on July 21, is charged with five crimes, including organized crime, drug-dealing, gambling, bribery and illegally detaining people against their will.
In court, Xie insisted that she was not the kingpin, but only one of the casinos' shareholders, cqnews.net reported Wednesday.
Xie, a former official in the Chongqing Taxation Bureau, allegedly recruited gangsters to operate the casinos and raked in millions of yuan between 2000-09, the news network reported.
