Behind the corruption crisis in resource-rich Shanxi province hides another, even darker, power: organised crime gangs whose tentacles extend to law enforcement agencies - and who are using Macau casinos to generate their income.
Much like in the Hollywood movie The Departed - itself based on the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs - gang leaders have placed moles in local police forces and have "bought" key members in the government, for whom they provide protection, according to mainland business magazine Caijing.
In one instance the "sparrow gang" of Luliang city planted members in the police cadet school. The gang, led by a man named Feng Xiaochun, sent 15 members to study as cadets, after which most went on to work as police in Zhongyang, a county under Luliang, the report said.
On 18 occasions the moles tipped off their gang members - who operated as debt collectors and thugs for hire - to help them avoid investigators.
When the operation was uncovered in 2004, 67 people, including Feng, were captured, while 47 guns and more than 1,400 bullets were seized.
The report mentions several cases in the past decade in which gangsters, often hired by businessmen, were found working as police chiefs, or had other close connections with the force or prosecutors.
It highlights the collusion between officials, triads and businessman in Shanxi, where a wealth of coal has made many billionaires, but also benefited corrupt officials and thugs.
Many thugs make a living by luring affluent coal mine bosses to gamble in Macau, following the Ministry of Public Security's national crackdown on casinos in 2005. They can earn up to 40 per cent commission on the amount their guests spend gambling, while some even become partners at the casinos, according to a former industry insider.
Zhao Wuqing, the leader of one of three middleman syndicates busted by Jincheng police in 2009, provided services from booking planes and hotels, to exchanging chips and providing female companions.
The guests were usually billionaires from the coal industry, but there were also managers of state-owned companies and even government cadres.
Some would lose all their money on the trips and if they failed to pay high interest loans, faced being beaten up.
Shanxi is a major target in the central government's anti-corruption drive. Since 2006, 14 major investigations had been derailed due to infiltration of triads into government agencies and the police, the magazine said.