Chapter 482: A Turtle in a Jar

"There was one time I helped a vice president deal with his mistress. Actually, it was mostly just clearing the person out of the house and sending her away to another city. The vice president paid, but he was afraid she would keep coming back, so he had me scare her off as quickly as possible. I did a good job, and one day the vice president asked me if I was short on money..."

"I said I was short on money—who isn't? The vice president said he'd find me a gig, and then he had me deliver goods. Later, I did well, and he gave me a sum of money, had someone fire me, and gave me a severance package."

"I had no choice, so I could only help deliver the goods. At first, I didn't know exactly what was inside, but I guessed it wasn't anything good, otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically asked me to deliver it... After doing it for a long time, I was allowed to know a few things, and the shipping methods changed too..."

The more Liang Yanrong spoke, the more he couldn't control himself.

He was no longer counting on saving his own life. In fact, he had never really cared much about his own life, but after his ex-girlfriend gave birth to his son, Liang Yanrong felt a bit of a sense of mission.

If he could save his own life, he would definitely prioritize that; ex-girlfriends or sons could always be had again later.

But now, with that prerequisite gone, Liang Yanrong's concern for his son suddenly increased significantly.

He hoped his life could continue in another way, and at the same time, his son's growth required money. Liang Yanrong knew he couldn't keep all the money, nor did he count on it, but he hoped to leave a little behind.

This mindset of his was quite similar to that of Li Jianfang, one of the bosses of the Huang-Li gang. But Liang Yanrong didn't know this; he didn't even know Li Jianfang existed... and he knew even less about the true identities of Huang Li and Old Ghost.

Even so, he had sold out the Jianyuan drug trafficking gang quite thoroughly.

First of all, he confirmed that the Jianyuan Group did indeed have large-scale drug sales, which gave this case a solid foundation.

And the situation he confessed also greatly deepened the police's understanding of the Jianyuan Group.

Three days later.

The first formal case analysis meeting of the Dual-Drug Task Force.

Liu Jinghui led the direction of the meeting:

"According to the criminal suspect's confession and the clues we unearthed from the Huang-Li gang, we have now secretly arrested a total of five members of the Jianyuan drug trafficking gang. One of them is a middle-level member of the gang, and the other four are all low-level lackeys."

"Judging from the current evidence, Jianyuan initially only sold special precursors, which is what we call easy-to-drug-make compounds. The sale of these things is not prohibited, but there are regulations and requirements; they can only be sold to specific companies for specific purposes."

"It can be said that Jianyuan's rise to wealth was partly due to walking this tightrope. After forming the group company, Jianyuan still kept a very tight grip on its chemical plants. Moreover, they produced fewer and fewer special precursors, which shows they were likely trying to wash their hands of it."

"Precisely because they controlled the chemical plants so well, Jianyuan's market competitiveness actually strengthened over the next few years."

"The turning point occurred seven or eight years ago. At that time, the overseas market was sluggish, Jianyuan was suppressed by competitors, and their capital chain ran into problems. Their main banks began to withdraw loans. From this point on, Jianyuan began to produce large quantities of easy-to-drug-make compounds again. But unlike before, they began to try producing special precursors for new types of drugs that were popular abroad but not commonly used domestically. Thus, they quietly earned a large amount of foreign exchange."

"This continued for several years, and the Huang-Li drug trafficking gang, which originally helped Jianyuan sell goods abroad, gradually grew larger. They began to want a bigger share of the profits and tried to build their own factories to manufacture drugs."

"In this way, it formed a situation where Jianyuan sold raw materials to the Huang-Li gang. The Huang-Li gang no longer simply resold these compounds but produced drugs themselves and then resold them abroad through previous channels. The honeymoon period between the two sides lasted until Jianyuan decided to go public."

"Jianyuan's own operations had actually been in trouble for a long time. Their operating expenses were too high, the internal friction of the family business, and the expenses of the core members within the gang all had to be deducted from the group's income, which was a very high amount. In addition, the long-term solidification of the upper management also led to a high turnover rate of key personnel in the company."

"Such a company might have gone bankrupt long ago if it weren't for the income from special precursors. But the company's president, Yuan Jiansheng, was single-mindedly focused on going public. He hoped to use this to wash his hands of the business, completely resolve the company's capital shortage, and then use equity incentives to allow the entire gang to withdraw, thereby passing the company and wealth on to his children. He believed that without this, the Jianyuan company would not survive after he was gone."

"But the first thing to bear the brunt was that their own financial statements were not up to par. Yuan Jiansheng needed more money to dress up the statements, but Huang and Li refused to give it. In the end, Jianyuan produced drugs itself, both to increase profits and to threaten the Huang-Li gang. Wang Xingzhai's death was therefore a threat from the Huang-Li gang."

Liu Jinghui combed through the case up to this point, most of which was witness testimony, with some simple deductions he had made.

After all, they had only touched the edge of Jianyuan and had not yet penetrated to the core.

Commandant Yin, Yu Wenshu, and others nodded frequently.

For them, understanding the full picture of the case was very important; as for specifically arresting any one of the suspects, they didn't need to arrange or deploy that themselves.

Commandant Yin said slowly: "So, the core manager of the Jianyuan drug trafficking gang is also Yuan Jiansheng? Is it he who step by step pulled his company's management, including his children, into becoming the management of the drug trafficking gang?"

Liu Jinghui shook his head and said: "We are not very clear about exactly who is involved, but Jianyuan actually split into two teams a long time ago. One team is Yuan Jiansheng's old brothers, about dozens of people, with the core being perhaps thirty or forty people. They guard the old chemical plants and are mainly the management of Jianyuan Pharmaceutical Chemical Co., Ltd. Most of the work of the Jianyuan Group is done by some externally hired professional managers. People outside all praise Yuan Jiansheng for not abandoning his old partners while maintaining the company's vitality..."

"Looking at it now, their chemical plants are at most making a meager profit and are constantly on the verge of loss. Only through illegal production can they generate profit. So this group of people also stepped into this step by step? If they don't want to go bankrupt, they have to engage in drugs?" Yu Wenshu frowned deeply as he listened.

"That's still because they are too greedy." Deputy Commandant Jin had some understanding of this and said: "Chemical plants are inherently low-profit, and the larger the chemical plant, the higher the profit. Small chemical plants are inherently difficult to survive. Jianyuan builds fancy factory areas, gets big villas, the top management eats and drinks well, and they go out for high-standard team-building at every turn. It's normal for them to lose money."

Commandant Yin added: "Even state-owned chemical plants wouldn't dare to do this. And the funds they are currently trafficking in drugs can even support the company's development into a listed company..."

Liu Jinghui didn't want them to go so far, so he said: "The United States doesn't produce its own goods; it imports goods from all over the world to use, and drugs are no exception. Yuan Jiansheng probably discovered this shortcut in the process of doing import and export business. He thought he could make a quick buck, but he didn't expect the honey to be so sweet that Jianyuan could never leave it again."

Speaking of this, Liu Jinghui paused and said: "The problem now is that we already know some of the core members of the Jianyuan drug trafficking gang. There are 6 confirmed, and the number of other suspected people exceeds 50, but there is no confirmed evidence yet. Should we implement arrests now?"

"If we arrest people, can we find enough physical evidence to prosecute them without relying on confessions?" Commandant Yin asked very professionally.

Liu Jinghui pondered and said: "There's no guarantee of that."

"It's best to have drugs and drug money as evidence." Commandant Yin said very seriously.

Liu Jinghui said: "They are no longer small drug dealers. Producing a round of special precursors might involve several tons. Neither the drugs nor the drug money can prove their scale!"

"Then isn't it even more necessary to find several tons of drugs to prove this?" Commandant Yin said with a smile: "I'm not arguing with you, but is it appropriate to arrest drug dealers without bringing some drugs and drug money?"

Liu Jinghui hadn't seriously considered this question before, so he couldn't help but say: "I originally thought the account books should be the most important. With such a big business, it's impossible to manage it without account books and accountants. Therefore, striving to find his accounting books is the most important thing."

"In terms of obtaining the full picture of the case, accounting books are of course the most important, but drug money and drugs are equally very important." Commandant Yin said earnestly, and then added: "If possible, it's best to arrest them during their transaction."

"With Yuan Jiansheng's status, it's impossible for him to trade drugs in person, even for large transactions." Liu Jinghui laughed.

"Then arrest him in the factory where they produce drugs. This is the most effective. And it is also the most sensational." Commandant Yin said lightly, without going into detail, but everyone present understood.

Actually, think about it: if you say you wiped out such-and-such drug trafficking group and arrested so many people, and the group had been manufacturing drugs for many years, people outside the circle actually don't feel anything. Not just people outside the circle, even people inside the circle who see such internal reports can only praise it as impressive.

But if you wipe out such-and-such drug trafficking group and seize ten or twenty tons of drugs, this will attract eyeballs. Even people in the circle have to give a thumbs up and keep saying "Awesome, awesome."

Now the task force has gathered the drug enforcement detachment, criminal investigation detachment, image investigation brigade, criminal science center of Changyang City, as well as personnel from the provincial department and multiple county and district bureaus. If we only get a "You're impressive," it would seem too childish.

If possible, everyone still hopes to get the attention of the leaders—in this world, everyone is a child who hasn't grown up, just hoping to be praised, and the object of praise is no longer just their parents.

"The Huang-Li gang has been wiped out, and Jianyuan should be in a very uneasy state right now." Liu Jinghui rubbed his forehead.

If we must catch them in the act, that's increasing the difficulty, especially for such a big case. Counting on Yuan Jiansheng, whose old skin is already wrinkled, to do the transaction himself is truly wishful thinking. Even getting him to go to the production site is very difficult.

But on the other hand, the two requirements of catching them in the act and having ironclad evidence are also the requirements of leaders that criminal police officers most often encounter. And there are certain realistic reasons for this.

The bigger the case, the more it should be handled as an ironclad case. Otherwise, if there is a sudden reversal after ten or eight years, the thunder that explodes will not just kill one or two people.

From this perspective, the Jianyuan case is actually the same. It must be ironclad evidence, preferably arresting Yuan Jiansheng on the spot, along with hundreds or thousands of kilograms of drugs.

Otherwise, not to mention the attitude of Qinghe City, will the thousands of workers in the Jianyuan Group be easily incited? What will be the attitude of Jianyuan's upstream suppliers and downstream distributors?

It wasn't just Liu Jinghui who was thinking; others were also turning their own thoughts.

Soon, Yu Wenshu considered it clearly and said: "Jianyuan Group is different from Huang-Li; it must be treated with caution. Huang-Li could be wiped out in a flash, but Jianyuan cannot. Jianyuan must be taken down with open swords and spears. We cannot be greedy for merit, and we cannot take shortcuts. Yuan Jiansheng should still be harboring illusions now. He doesn't know the progress of our task force, and he is likely guessing..."

Looking at the people around him, Yu Wenshu said: "We are actually not afraid of him guessing, nor are we afraid of him taking action. No matter what action he takes, it is an excellent opportunity for us to obtain evidence. My suggestion is to be ready to arrest at any time, but not to arrest for the time being, focusing on collecting evidence. The more evidence we collect, the better."

"I agree with this plan." Commandant Yin is another big shot at the meeting, and at this time he said: "Jianyuan Group is actually already a turtle in a jar. Arresting them now and convicting them through interrogation and confession might take several months. The value is not great, and the harvest is too small. It's better to let them struggle and see what splashes they can make. Anyway, it's all about collecting evidence. Now we just need to guard against three points: first, prevent its gang members from absconding; second, prevent the loss of drugs and drug money; third, prevent them from destroying important evidence."

"These three points are not simple." Yu Wenshu laughed.

"For such a big drug case, it's normal for it not to be simple." Commandant Yin smiled lightly.

"If we choose this route, there is actually another benefit." Liu Jinghui at this time let out a bit of his inner reasoning, saying: "An old fox like Yuan Jiansheng shouldn't have only one path with the Huang-Li gang."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but think deeply.

Liu Jinghui continued: "Jianyuan manufactures drugs itself and even attempts to sell them directly, to the point that Wang Xingzhai was killed. Yuan Jiansheng couldn't have been unprepared for this kind of bottom-line-breaking probing. What is his capital for competing with the Huang-Li gang? Does he have other drug distributors? This point is also worth focusing on."

"Not bad."

"Indeed possible."

Everyone nodded again.

Getting approval, Liu Jinghui's mood rose slightly, and he said: "In view of this, I suggest a model of gradually closing the net from the periphery, with physical evidence as the main focus and confession as a supplement, using the arrested criminal suspects as a breakthrough to constantly approach Yuan Jiansheng."

Liu Jinghui looked at Jiang Yuan and said: "How much evidence we can find from them depends on Wu Wu Fa Yi Jiang."

"Yes." Jiang Yuan responded.

Yu Wenshu listened to Jiang Yuan's voice and couldn't help but smile kindly: "If Jiang Yuan helps lock in the physical evidence, everyone should be able to relax a lot."

"I will do my best." Jiang Yuan still looked very humble.

Listening to Jiang Yuan's voice, everyone present inexplicably felt that their originally somewhat anxious mood had relaxed a bit.

Think about it carefully: the corpse dug out from the ancient tomb in Shi Tingxian could be traced all the way to the head of the Jianyuan Group. With such an outrageous forensic doctor in the team, what is difficult about solving the case?

Once a drug trafficking gang is approached, their ability to destroy evidence is not enough to look at. At least, in the face of criminal science personnel like Jiang Yuan, there is absolutely no chance. ===== CHAPTER 483 =====