The campaign targets ‘covert’ crimes that have spread online, from ‘soft violence’ to sexual extortion
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenPhoebe Zhangin ShenzhenPublished: 6:00pm, 11 Aug 2026Chinese police have dismantled more than 1,000 gangs and detained about 8,200 suspects, just 10 days after the country’s top security official announced a year-long campaign against organised crime.The Ministry of Public Security said on Monday that the crackdown focused on crimes that had evolved into “more covert” forms and spread rapidly online.
“New types of crimes such as online predatory lending, soft-violence debt collection … coerced consumption and online harassment have become major forms of organised crime,” the ministry said on social media.
“They gravely disrupt the normal economic and social order and undermine the public’s sense of security.”
It is the latest in a series of campaigns targeting organised crime that first began in 2018.
Police in Henan province detained 41 people accused of using malicious complaints against online shops to extort money, while police in Shandong province caught 27 suspects who allegedly caused traffic accidents to extort compensation from drivers, according to the ministry.
