svetikya Chapter 62 Locking in a Settlement? A Suddenly Emerging Club
Chapter 62 Locking in a Settlement? A Suddenly Emerging Club
Five minutes later, Shen Shaofeng came out of the clothing store, now dressed in jeans and a jacket, had taken off his baseball cap, put on a fake mustache, and was carrying a military green backpack.
He turned into a small alley, keeping an eye on the building's exit, and took out his phone to dial Li Wenbin's number.
"Boss, it's me. I need your help."
Li Wenbin's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Speak."
"I'm on Ma Tong Road in Yuen Long, opposite the Chung Hing Industrial Building. About 20 minutes ago, Cheung Wing Chiu took a taxi here, got off, and went into the building."
"But I'm not sure if this building is his final destination. I need you to retrieve CCTV footage from several key locations nearby as soon as possible..."
Li Wenbin immediately said, "Okay, I'll have my CIB buddies handle it right away, but CCTV coverage is low in Yuen Long, so don't get your hopes up too high."
He was well aware of what Shen Shaofeng was currently doing. Before the official results were released, the Operations Department of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) was not suitable to interfere and could only provide assistance in terms of intelligence and logistical support.
"I understand, hurry up, boss."
After hanging up the phone, Shen Shaofeng went into a tea restaurant with a convenient view of the building entrance, ordered a cup of iced lemon tea and a serving of egg waffles, and waited patiently.
In 1995, CCTV was far from widespread on Hong Kong Island.
They are only found near main roads, banks, jewelry stores, and a few government departments or office buildings of large corporations.
Old industrial areas like Yuen Long have very low coverage.
However, he needs to confirm whether Zhang Rongchao is actually staying in this building before he can arrange for further follow-up investigations.
Half an hour later, the phone rang.
"Shaofeng, we've found it."
"The taxi stopped in front of the Zhenxing Industrial Building. About five minutes later, a man wearing sunglasses walked out of the back door of the building and walked west along the East Road under the big tree."
"The resolution is too low to see the face clearly, but the figure and clothing match your description of the target, and the person is carrying several supermarket shopping bags..."
Shen Shaofeng thought to himself: As expected, he is an expert. This building is just a cover.
"How far did he go? Did he take any other means of transportation?" he asked quickly.
"We were lucky this time. Two new traffic cameras were installed at the intersection of East and West Roads under the big tree last Boxing Day, and they captured a man who looked like the target getting into a private car parked on the side of the road..."
"Silver Toyota Corolla, license plate HN8346. This license plate is not officially registered and is suspected to be fake. I just checked with the front desk, and the target vehicle drove towards Gong'an Road five minutes ago..."
……
An hour later, in Lankou Village, 500 meters away from Changlong Auto Repair Shop, in a small grove of trees.
Shen Shaofeng parked his car in the shade of a tree and was observing the repair shop with binoculars.
Inside the repair shop, there are several large warehouses and workshops, with more than twenty vehicles of various types parked haphazardly.
Some of the abandoned vehicles have been dismantled, and various car parts, tires, oil drums, and rusty lifts indicate that the repair shop is still in operation.
None of that matters. The important thing is that a silver Corolla was parked next to an open space next to a shed!
It took quite a while to find this final destination.
Gong'an Road only has old cameras at the main intersections, which failed to capture the final direction the car traveled.
But Shen Shaofeng immediately analyzed for Li Wenbin: Gong'an Road connects several housing estates and old industrial areas, making it a good place to hide.
Shen Shaofeng put himself in the shoes of those outsiders and felt that choosing a housing estate was more suitable. Firstly, the country roads were well-connected, making it easy to escape in case of trouble.
Secondly, compared to many abandoned old industrial areas, housing estates are frequently visited by people, making them less likely to arouse suspicion.
So, while driving, he instructed Li Wenbin to conduct a thorough search along Gong'an Road, especially within the areas of Lankou Village and Baisha Village, to identify any secluded, spacious locations that would not easily attract the attention of the villagers.
Finally, after much effort, he managed to get back to Zhang Rongchao.
After observing for a while, Shen Shaofeng's phone vibrated.
"Shaofeng, it's me."
"Boss, any news?"
"The licensee of the auto repair shop you're keeping an eye on is Ho Chun-hung. According to information provided by a member of the New Territories North Anti-Triad Unit, he is the henchman of Tai-Yam Cheong, a leader under Yi-Kwan, and is in charge of smuggling cars and the like."
"Yiqun?"
He had not been an inspector in the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau for long, and his focus was mainly on the top triads in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, which had tens of thousands of members, such as the Old Man, Wo Luen Shing, Hung Hing, and Tung Ying.
Our understanding of the local forces in the New Territories is currently limited.
"Well, you might not be familiar with them. They mainly operate in the northwest of the New Territories, and Yuen Long is their stronghold."
Li Wenbin clearly knew a lot about this and began to "tutor" Shen Shaofeng.
"According to our O-Division archives, the Yi Qun has been established for quite some time, but it has never grown large and is considered a medium-sized or smaller triad. The current leader is Chan Tat-wah, nicknamed 'Rotten Life Wah,' who is around fifty years old and a local from Yuen Long."
"What's the size of the club?"
"The core members number no more than one hundred, and with the peripheral '49ers' and 'Blue Lanterns,' the total is around three or four hundred. Of course, we can't compare to the big triads, but in this small area of Yuen Long, we're considered local bullies."
After giving Shen Shaofeng a few seconds to process it, Li Wenbin continued, "Their main sources of income are controlling several minibus routes and some container truck parking lots in Yuen Long District to collect protection money; they also run underground gambling dens in some remote village houses; and finally, they steal cars, modify them, and sell them off—all in one go, transporting them by sea without anyone noticing."
Li Wenbin paused, then added, "Well... according to intelligence, Yiqun is also likely involved in smuggling red diesel."
"Red chili oil, that's fatty meat!"
Shen Shaofeng had certainly heard of "red oil," which was the common name in Hong Kong for illegal duty-free industrial diesel fuel, which was extremely profitable.
"Yes. Yuen Long is close to the border and has well-developed waterways, making smuggling a persistent problem. Yi Qun is very likely using auto repair shops and abandoned warehouses as transit points. The Cheung Lung Auto Repair Shop you're keeping an eye on is in such a remote location, yet it's quite large, and there are vehicles coming and going as cover, making it a perfect place for running a red diesel business."
Li Wenbin further analyzed: "If those out-of-town thugs really got in touch with Yi Qun, using the auto repair shop as a cover, and even buying counterfeit cars and weapons at high prices, it wouldn't be surprising. Lan Minghua is the kind of person who would do anything for money."
In gangs, there are only wrong names, not wrong nicknames. "Rotten Life Hua" means he's got a rotten life and isn't afraid of death. Someone like that who's managed to get to the position of leader must be quite something.
The situation has become complicated now; those scoundrels are not only extremely cunning, but they may also have the protection of local bullies.
This means that if the police make any move, it could easily alert the suspects.
But Shen Shaofeng still felt that Li Wenbin's idea was a bit arbitrary: the other party was a terrorist, and no matter how strong Lan Minghua was, he wouldn't provoke such a group of people, would he? Isn't it better to be alive?