Wang Hongqiang, the gang boss in Luanchuan county, Central China's Henan Province, uses a burning 100-yuan note to light a cigarette. Photo: Screenshot of Henan TV

 

A gang boss' huge ego as seen in his proliferate social media posts that include videos of him burning cash, running an underground casino and cohabitating with three wives, has led to his downfall.  

Wang Hongqiang, from Luanchuan county, Henan Province frequently took selfies and asked his underlings to take the photos and videos that showed terrible violence he used to collect debts and extort locals. 

Some of Wang's social media posts were shown on China's Ministry of Public Security's official Sina Weibo account on Wednesday. 

One video clip shows Wang drinking the blood of a sika deer, a protected species in China. Wang said he was getting tired of drinking Moutai, a famous and expensive Chinese spirit. 

Another clip shows the three women he lived with wearing the same dresses but of different colors. Wang introduced them as his concubines. 

Wang used violent means to collect debts owed to his illegal casino. 

A victim told the police that his gang once nailed a toothpick into his finger when they came to collect debts, according to Henan TV.

Wang's high-profile social media posts were used as evidence of his crimes in court. 

Wang and 22 members of his gang were arrested in 2018. Wang was sentenced to 24 years in prison for nine crimes, including extortion, illegal detention and bigamy. The other people in his gang were sentenced to one to 17 years. 

A campaign against organized crimes was launched in China in early 2018. 

Global Times