By An Baijie

The former police director of Chongqing was executed Wednesday for a long list of crimes, including taking bribes, protecting gangsters and raping a woman.

Local residents in the municipality supported the execution of Wen Qiang, 55, former director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, and expressed hope that law and order will return to the city.

The website of the Chongqing Higher People's Court announced that Wen was executed Wednesday in Chongqing with the approval of the Supreme People's Court.

It was not immediately known whether the death sentence was carried out by lethal injection or with a bullet in the head.

Upon hearing of Wen's execution, some local residents rejoiced, unfurling banners in front of the courthouse to show their support for the court's decision. One banner read, "The corrupt official is dead. Justice has been served. The Party is wise and the State prospers," according to a report on cqnews. com.

The report said some residents set off firecrackers in front of the courthouse to celebrate the death of Wen.

Wen, 55, was the highest-ranking municipal official arrested in a crackdown on Mafia-style crime gangs in Chongqing, an anti-corruption crusade initiated in June 2009 by Bo Xilai, the Party secretary of Chongqing.

The local prosecutor found that between 1996 and 2009, Wen took bribes totaling more than 12 million yuan ($1.76 million). In return, he offered official government jobs and helped companies and business people obtain illegal profits.

Wen used a waterproof container to bury 6.65 million yuan ($1 million) cash in the mud of a fishing pond in a rural area beside the airport highway in Chongqing. Local police dug up the money in September 2009, acting on information provided by Wen's wife.

The former police boss was also convicted of offering a protective umbrella to five organized crime gangs in Chongqing. Evidence showed the gang members sent him a total of 756,500 yuan ($113,000) in bribes.

The local prosecutor said that Wen had raped a college student after getting her drunk, but Wen argued that she was a call girl, saying that he had given her 120,000-yuan ($17,700) as a reward afterward.

Wen failed to account for the source of more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in personal assets.

The Chongqing No.5 Intermediate People's Court sentenced Wen to death on April 14 on charges of accepting bribes, shielding criminal gangs, rape and failing to account for his cash and assets.

The Higher People's Court of Chongqing rejected his appeal on May 21, upholding the death penalty verdict and dismissing defense claims that Wen had been deprived of his rights when his property was confiscated.