Guangdong police have arrested suspects thought to be responsible for 6,395 robberies where saloon cars and motorbikes were used as weapons in major cities in the province.

A campaign was launched on July 19 and by the end of the month, 475 criminal gangs were unveiled and 5,023 people detained, said Zheng Dong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Security, Monday.

At a press conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, Zheng said the special campaign had dealt a heavy blow to local criminals and contributed to ensuring a sound and good social order in the prosperous province.

Zheng said he believed criminal activities that used to be active in the streets in major cities in the southern Chinese province had basically been brought under control in the wake of the crackdown.

The campaign has also warned off other would-be criminals, Zheng said.

A total of 106 sedan cars and 440 motorcycles used in the robberies were seized.

Forty-seven guns, 74 bullets and 597 knives were also confiscated during the campaign.

"The 100-day special campaign that focuses on fighting street robberies will not come to an end till the end of October and has made an initial success," Zheng said.

"Despite the achievement, police in the province will continue to clamp down on crime over the next few months."

The move should help improve the province's economy, Zheng said.

Most of the robberies took place in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Foshan, Chaozhou, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Yunfu, Shantou and Shanwei in the Pearl River Delta.

It is the first time Guangdong police have launched a special campaign focusing on robberies in local streets, Zheng said.

The Guangzhou police have also revealed they busted a criminal secret society headed by 19-year-old Liu Rongcheng on July 26, detaining six members of the gang.

(China Daily August 3, 2004)