Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 467 - 330: Arrest!

At 8 o’clock in the morning, it was time to start work.

The moment Director Zheng of the Gaozhou City Police Bureau office stepped into the lobby, Police Xiao Liu approached him to report, "Director, the Deputy Division Commander from Changhang Public Security Fire Brigade who visited us last time has come again. He’s with the Deputy Chief of the Linghai City Police Bureau."

A retired Political Commissioner from Linghai Police had arrived the day before yesterday, and it wasn’t clear if he had left or not. Unexpectedly, now a Deputy Chief has arrived.

Is this never-ending? Don’t they need travel expenses for official trips?

Director Zheng muttered to himself and asked, "What are they here for?"

"They’re here to make arrests. They’ve brought all the necessary paperwork requesting our cooperation—letters of introduction, police badges, detention warrants all included."

"Arrest who?"

"Arrest Lin Hexiang, the Director of the Office of Academic Affairs at Huayuan Technical School, the accountant Jiang Yan, and Zhang Hongmei, the wife of the principal, Lin Chunsheng."

It seemed like that firefighter Han last time came to help several students who had dropped out demand their tuition fees back. Lin Chunsheng refused to refund, became furious, and first roped in their city leaders. Seeing no satisfactory response from their city leaders, now they’ve come with formalities to make arrests.

Isn’t this just settling scores under the guise of public duty!

Director Zheng couldn’t believe that such a thing could happen, his eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "Where are they?"

"They’ve just arrived. I asked them to wait in the second-floor conference room."

"Is Chief Dai in his office?"

"Chief Dai hasn’t arrived yet."

"Let’s go; I’ll meet them first."

Director Zheng put down his briefcase, opened a drawer to take out a notebook, and along with Xiao Liu, climbed up to the second floor and entered the small conference room.

Han Yu stood up to welcome them and introduced Director Li.

Director Zheng quickly raised his hand to salute and after a few words of greeting, they sat down to get down to business.

"Director Zheng, there’s no dispute over whether Huayuan and its main people in charge are suspected of fraud. We wouldn’t have filed an investigation if there weren’t sufficient evidence. Our unannounced visit today follows the procedures for handling cases in different jurisdictions to request cooperation from your bureau."

Han Yu picked up his phone to check the time on the LCD screen and added, "It’s now five past eight. In another five minutes, our officers will take coercive measures against the three individuals mentioned earlier and then, following procedure, bring them first to your bureau.

If you feel it’s inconvenient for them to be brought to the bureau, we can take them to the Southern City Police Station under your jurisdiction, or directly to a hotel. Later on, you can arrange for police to participate in the interrogation. In any case, we’ll follow all procedures strictly and won’t make such an arrest without notifying you and quietly take them away after arresting them."

Director Li nodded slightly, also looking at the time on his phone.

Director Zheng was overwhelmed because according to the procedures of handling cases, the bureau must provide cooperation, after all, they had all paperwork in order.

"Director Li, Captain Han, you’re investigating a case in our jurisdiction, and indeed I should cooperate. But the case you’re handling is special. If you just arrest them, what about all those students?"

"Sorry, but that’s not something we should consider."

"But we have to consider social stability!"

Director Zheng closed his notebook and emphasized, "As far as I know, Lin Chunsheng’s wife is also a teacher at Huayuan. The three people you’re trying to arrest are the main persons in charge of Huayuan Technical School’s academics, finances, and logistics. If you just take them away like this, the school will definitely plunge into chaos. To put it bluntly, whether thousands of students can have a meal becomes a problem."

Having not slept well last night, Han Yu felt a bit sleepy, rubbed his eyes and said, "But they are suspected of fraud, and their criminal responsibility must be pursued. Otherwise, what would be the point of having laws?"

"But..."

"Director Zheng, I believe there aren’t so many ’buts.’ We can’t avoid arresting them just because the school has students; otherwise, they will always be brazen, believing that as long as the school does not close, they will be able to act with impunity forever!"

"I’m sorry, this is a big decision that I cannot make on my own. I need to report to the bureau leadership."

"Okay, we can wait."

"Can the arrest be delayed?"

"No, the only thing I can guarantee is that we won’t take anyone away without your permission."

"Without our consent, you can’t just arrest people!"

"Director Zheng, you might want to consult your Legal Affairs Department to see if we have the authority to arrest." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The case is theirs, and so is the arrest.

They came here only to request out-of-jurisdiction cooperation according to regulations, and you must provide cooperation.

If there’s any dispute over the case itself or jurisdiction, you can report to superiors. If the superiors can’t resolve it through communication and coordination, then just keep reporting up, and in the end, the common superior of both sides will decide.

In short, stopping them from making arrests is impossible.

Director Zheng realized that the situation was serious and stood up, saying, "Captain Han, Lin Hexiang, and the other two are just school staff, not the legal representatives of the school. Even if Huayuan is suspected of fraud, you should be arresting the principal and vice-principals."

As Han Yu continued sorting through the arrest paperwork, he casually said, "Yesterday morning, Lin Chunsheng and the other main suspects were apprehended in Shenzhen."

"You arrested Lin Chunsheng!"

"He’s suspected of fraud; of course, we arrested him. Besides, he’s not a National People’s Congress delegate; there’s no need to inform Gaozhou City People’s Congress before we arrest him."

"Alright, please wait a moment."

...

Lin Chunsheng’s arrest from Huayuan was no small matter.

Not daring to delay for a moment, Director Zheng stepped out of the small conference room and made an urgent call to report to the bureau chief.

After Chief Dai figured out what had happened, his brow furrowed, and he asked, "Fraud?"

"In their words, the facts are clear, evidence is conclusive, and there is no dispute over jurisdiction."

"How can there be no dispute when Huayuan is in our jurisdiction?"

"Lin Chunsheng sent people to recruit in their area, and according to them, the victims number up to two hundred and twenty-seven, their area is also a site of the crime."

Director Zheng thought for a moment and said with a worried face, "Huang Wenhua is aware of the situation. That man surnamed Han had sought him out the first time he came, and Huang was the representative of our bureau at yesterday’s meeting."

It wouldn’t be much if Lin Chunsheng was arrested for something else, but the key is that he was arrested on suspicion of fraud.

Now, the possibility of getting Lin Chunsheng back is slim, and if Linghai Police and Changhang Public Security arrest a few more responsible persons from Huayuan, it would be tantamount to confirming Huayuan’s suspicion of fraud.

In doing so, it would mean that the other twenty or so vocational training institutions are all fraud schools!

Let alone whether the city’s vocational education industry can continue, once this precedent is set, Gaozhou is likely to become an ATM for public security agencies from other provinces and cities.

Those schools recruit everywhere, and the police need only collect some evidence to initiate a case investigation, then one by one, come with procedures to make arrests.

At that time, will you collaborate, or will you not?

Chief Dai realized the seriousness of the issue and hurriedly said, "Notify Huang Wenhua immediately to go to the bureau. I will report to the city leaders and see what they have to say."

"Yes."

"First, try to stabilize that deputy director from Linghai Police Bureau and the one from Changhang navigation police."

"But they are about to make arrests!"

After weighing the options, Chief Dai gritted his teeth and said, "They have full documentation, we can only assist. How about this, let Huang Wenhua assist them to bring the people to Southern City Police Station, but only to Southern City Police Station."

The implication of the bureau leaders’ words was clear, without permission, they should not let Linghai Police take the people away.

Director Zheng hurriedly said, "Yes!"

...

At 8:10 AM, move as planned.

Old Zhang, Wu Zhengyu, and Zhang Lan, who had just arrived at Huayuan’s "headquarters", took out their IDs, revealed their guns and handcuffs under their clothes, pushed aside the gatekeeper who tried to obstruct them, crossed the small playground, and walked straight into the office of Huayuan Technical School.

"Who are you..."

"Lin Hexiang, right? We are police from Linghai City Police Bureau, here are our IDs, and we are now lawfully detaining you. Please cooperate."

"Detain... detain me for what."

"You should be very clear about what you’ve done; stand properly, we’re now reading the detention warrant."

Caught off guard so early in the workday, Lin Hexiang was instantly dumbfounded.

A flamboyantly dressed woman in her thirties, sitting in the corner office, stood up and asked in Putonghua with a local accent, "What is Linghai Police Bureau, we have never heard of it!"

"Yes, what right does Linghai Police have to come here and detain people? I’m going to call the police." Lin Hexiang came to his senses and reached for the phone.

"Behave yourself!" Wu Zhengyu grabbed him and swiftly handcuffed him with a click.

Zhang Lan walked up to the woman and said coldly, "Jiang Yan, right? You don’t recognize us, but we recognize you; you are also being detained."

"On what grounds are you arresting me? Don’t you even think about framing an innocent person!"

"Dare to resist!"

Although Zhang Lan was an accountant for Linghai Police Bureau, she had also attended a police academy for three years.

She had undergone physical training and learned grappling techniques; seeing Jiang Yan actually trying to fight, she raised her arm to block and pushed her against a corner of the wall.

Old Zhang quickly pulled out handcuffs and, with the help of Zhang Lan, swiftly handcuffed Jiang Yan behind her back.

Jiang Yan roared and struggled, shouting in the local dialect, and in an instant, a crowd gathered outside the office, many students coming over to see what was happening.

At this moment, the sound of a motorcycle engine was heard from outside.

Old Zhang drew his pistol, ready for action, only to see a colleague wearing a broad-brimmed hat shouting as he squeezed through the crowd.

"Director Huang, you’ve arrived just in time; he came from somewhere, wronging us and trying to arrest us." Lin Hexiang looked like he had found a savior and struggled too.

"Why would they come all this way to arrest you if you didn’t know why?"

Old Huang glared at him and quickly took out his ID: "Which one is Director Zhang, I’m Huang Wenhua from Southern City Police Station, our bureau leaders asked me to assist you."

"I am."

"Director Zhang, pleased to meet you."

Old Huang put away his ID and asked in a negotiable tone, "Director Zhang, this is not a place to talk, and it’s not far from our station; how about we first take the people to our station."

Old Zhang put away his gun and took out his cell phone, "Sorry, I need to call and ask for instructions from our bureau leaders."

"Director Li and Captain Han are at our bureau, and they also said to take the people to our station first; you can call to confirm if you don’t believe it."

"Alright, let me ask."

Meanwhile, Jianghai, Xiao Gong, and Han Ning had controlled the logistics director of Huayuan at the "branch campus", who was also Lin Chunsheng’s wife, Zhang Hongmei.

The "branch campus" was nearby, also not far from Southern City Police Station.

Deputy Director Old Liu of the Southern City Police Station arrived promptly, clarified the situation, and in front of the three, used the walkie-talkie to talk with Han Yu, who was waiting at the bureau, then together with the three of them took Zhang Dongmei to the Police Station.