CHONGQING: Chongqing's former director of the justice bureau and deputy police head Wen Qiang faces trial today for a host of charges including those linked to organized crime in the municipality.

Wen is accused of crimes that include graft, rape, covering up and conniving with mafia-style gangs, as well as possessing an exorbitant amount of suspicious assets, local news website cqnews.net reported.

The trial of Wen, dubbed "the most senior gang protector" in the region, follows his detention last August amid a slew of special operations by the authorities to crack down on gangs starting June, with nearly 2,000 suspects detained and 200 legal officials implicated for sheltering gangs.