(Ecns.cn)-Rebellious from a young age, Nie Lei started out as a discontented shoe salesman before becoming a notorious gang boss, who for years lived beyond the arm of the law and under the protection of a number of powerful figures.
At the beginning of October this year, two sheriffs named Yu Guoming and Feng Yuexin were arrested in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on suspicion of assisting Nie with his criminal activity. Currently, about 161 gang members and 14 police officers have been captured for their involvement with Nie's underworld business ventures.
Child of model teachers
Nie was born into a well-educated Qingdao family in 1967. His parents were both math teachers at a local middle school, but were forced to leave young Nie and his two sisters with his grandfather during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a chaotic period when people had to work very hard to make a living.
"Zhang (Nie's mother) was a workaholic," a colleague of his mother told China Newsweek. "Once in 1976, when the terrible Tangshan earthquake took place, Zhang stayed at school and took care of her students for about a month before it occurred to her that her own kids were still locked at home."
Neglected by his parents, Nie became a "wild child" in junior high. According to one of his teachers, the boy was once grounded by his father for cutting class, but soon managed to escape from the third floor of their house.
6 years over 1.3 yuan
With a bad record for previous behavior, Nie was detained for a day by local police on suspicion of theft at the age of 15. He was eventually proven innocent, but the incident left a mark on his attitude toward society.
Nie did not go to senior high after graduation and had too much idle time, which he mostly spent at a busy local market. There, the 18-year-old committed his first crime by blackmailing a boy of about the same age for 1.3 yuan.
Nie and two other accomplices were soon arrested and sentenced to prison for six, seven and eight years respectively.
Once released, his prison record made it difficult for Nie to find employment, which forced him to become a shoe peddler with one of his sisters.
Nevertheless, Nie displayed a keen business sense, and the shoe styles he chose were always hot sellers.
But trouble was not far behind, and Nie was imprisoned for another six years in 1992 over a brawl with a wholesaler, in which Nie and his friends not only beat the man, but also robbed him of all his valuables.
Despite a growing criminal record, Nie has been complimented by his friends, including previous cellmates, as gentle, loyal and generous.
