Ten key members of a police-run gang in north China have been sentenced to between five to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of rape, robbery, bribery and gambling, a local court said on Thursday.

Ringleader Su He, former political commissar of Tumd Zuoqi Public Security Bureau, Inner Mongolia, was convicted of illegally controlling local government departments and collecting massive gains, with nine other policemen in the bureau over a period of more than 10 years, the Intermediate People's Court of Erdos City heard.

Su was given a jail sentence of 20 years, property worth 200,000 yuan (US$25,800) was confiscated and he was fined 20,000 yuan. The other nine were sentenced to five to 15 years in prison with fines of 2,000 yuan to 12,000 yuan.

The gang used a company named "Jinyuzhou Commerce and Trade Co Ltd" run by Su as cover to carry out illegal activities.

The gang organized 61 illegal activities involving a total of 13 crimes including rape, illegal detention, robbery, illegal possession of firearms and illegally collecting more than 3 million yuan of money, according to the court.

They also interfered with the public administration of local governments and "severely damaged the economic and social order of the region", the court said.

The other nine included He Changwei, former secretary of the bureau's discipline inspection commission, Nie Zilong, the bureau's former police officer in charge of economic crimes, Kong Fanjun, deputy general manager of the Jinyuzhou company, heads of three police stations under the bureau and three policemen.

The gang was busted last August and six of its key members were arrested a month later.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2007)