Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 59 - 55 Dividing Forces into Three Routes

Chapter 59: Chapter 55 Dividing Forces into Three Routes

Having spent three years in a technical secondary school in Binjiang, with the school located right next to the Yangtze River.

Whenever there were holidays, Han Yu would either visit his sister’s house or go shopping with classmates and was especially familiar with Binjiang and Binjiang Port, going to Binjiang felt just like going home.

He had passed by the entrance of the Binjiang Port Police Station more than once, but never entered the unimpressive-looking Soviet-style building.

The entrance hall was in the middle, with a sign for the Ministry of Transport’s Binjiang Port Police Station hanging at the door.

The lobby was small, inside were stairways and an east-west corridor.

To the east of the lobby was the duty room with windows facing the lobby, where one could ask the on-duty police officers if there was an issue.

Both sides of the corridor were lined with offices, and at the end were the meeting room and bathrooms.

The layout of the second floor was similar, and it felt like walking into a health clinic.

According to the nameplates outside the offices, the Binjiang Port Police Station was small, having only a little over thirty police officers including the director and Political Commissioner, but it had many internal departments.

There were the Political Office, General Office, Security Department, Political Security Department, Criminal Investigation Department, Finance Department, Firefighting Department, Records Room...

The sparrow may be small, but it has all its vital organs, and moreover, it has a high status.

In Linghai, only Director Yang and Master Ding were eligible to wear "Makuni," but it seemed like more than half of the people going in and out of this building were wearing "Makuni"!

Section-level staff here are not considered leaders. As for division level... it seems like there is no position for a division head or deputy here.

The Criminal Investigation Department was small, having only one office.

Very few people, including the director and deputy director, there were only three investigators.

There was no coroner, nor were there any technical police officers specialized in fingerprints or evidence examination, no wonder major cases were handled by the Port District Bureau of the Binjiang City Bureau.

It’s worth mentioning that population management within the port area, which is household registration, was also managed by the Port District Bureau of the Binjiang City Bureau.

Huang Jiangsheng was only a proactive public security volunteer, not a police officer, and had no qualification to enter.

After Director Zhang gave a brief introduction, Director Jiang laughed and said, "So you’re Little Salted Fish! I’m good friends with your Director Xu!"

"Director Jiang, you know our Director Xu?"

"Known him for a long time, he’s a hard drinker."

Director Zhang chuckled and said, "Director Jiang, Director Xu said he’d come and drink with you when he’s not busy."

"I can’t outdrink him, but I won’t be afraid if he really comes. By then, I’ll ask Director Wei to join him, Director Wei can hold his liquor too."

"This morning, Director Xu told me, when he arrives in Binjiang he wants to find not only you but also Director Wei."

"In Binjiang, he only has us few old friends, who else would he look for if not us?"

Director Jiang had served as a soldier, Xu Sanye, though he wasn’t a soldier himself, enjoyed hanging out with those who had been.

Director Zhang wasn’t surprised by the good relationship between Xu Sanye and Director Jiang, lifting his arm and pointing towards the docks, "Speaking of which, Salted Fish is no stranger. His brother-in-law works as a mechanical repair team leader at the docks, and his sister works at the Sailor Club."

"Is that so? Salted Fish, why didn’t you say so earlier!"

"I forgot."

"You kid... so it’s just like coming home for you."

While they were talking, a clean and neat-looking young man knocked and opened the door, also carrying a bag for a camera over his shoulder.

"Xiao Xiao, come in, we’ve been waiting for you."

Director Jiang stood up and, while inviting the young man to take a seat, he laughed and said, "Salted Fish, let me introduce you, this is Staff Xiao from the Port Authority’s Publicity Department, not only is he an excellent writer, having published countless articles in a year, but he also understands photography, and knows how to take pictures."

"Staff Xiao, nice to meet you," Han Yu quickly stood up and saluted.

Staff Xiao was puzzled, not understanding why the Criminal Investigation Department needed a half-grown kid.

Director Jiang introduced with a smile, "Xiao Xiao, this is Salted Fish, he’s both a relative to our Port Authority and a police officer from Linghai Police Bureau."

Director Zhang, trying to suppress a laugh, added, "He should be the youngest police officer in the history of Linghai Police Bureau!"

"Nice to meet you, welcome, welcome."

"We’re all colleagues here, no need for such formalities. Director Zhang, now that everyone’s here, you should brief us on the situation and assign tasks."

"Director Jiang, you go ahead."

"You’re the most familiar with the situation, and besides, this case was primarily your responsibility to begin with. Our Criminal Investigation Department and Salted Fish, we’re just here to assist you."

"Alright, I’ll start."

Director Zhang gave a concise and clear introduction to the case, took a small sip of tea, and concluded, "Ladies and gentlemen, to turn this case into an ironclad one, we must obtain conclusive evidence. That is, we need to find out how the suspects exchange for Foreign Exchange Certificates, and how they resell them.

In other words, even if we discover that they are exchanging Foreign Exchange Certificates with foreign sailors, we must not make our move to arrest them. We have to play the long game to catch the big fish, to see where they go after getting the Foreign Exchange Certificates, and to whom they are selling them at high prices."

Director Jiang pondered and said, "This might mean we have to go to the East Sea."

Director Zhang nodded slightly, "When the time comes, we may have to split into two groups. One group will stay at home to investigate and collect evidence, while the other group will follow the suspects to the East Sea. However, the investigation and evidence collection involve foreign sailors, and we can’t do without the assistance from our colleagues in the East Sea, so I reported to Director Chen four days ago."

Foreign sailors are also considered international guests, so investigating and collecting evidence from them is no small matter.

Director Jiang asked in a low voice, "What did Director Chen say?"

"Director Chen told us to go ahead with the investigation. For the evidence collection part, he will help us communicate and coordinate with the Border Inspection. As for seeking assistance from our colleagues in the East Sea, the bureau will help us coordinate as well, and he will personally visit if necessary."

"That’s great, let’s start by forming groups."

"There’s one more thing."

"What is it?"

"If the suspects come today, it means they know the schedule of the foreign vessels docking. Everyone, how do you think they found out?"

Director Jiang slammed his hand on the table, "There’s a mole. They have accomplices in Binjiang!"

Old Liu, with his chin propped up, contemplated, "Not only the Port Authority but also the Navigation Administration (Port Supervision), the Border Inspection (Exit and Entry Border Inspection Station), Customs, Quarantine, and Ship Agencies are aware of the ship schedules."

The personnel of the Binjiang Navigation Administration Office, now the Binjiang Port and Navigation Supervision Bureau, from a few months ago, were not numerous, and their main duty was enforcement on the river, so the possibility of them leaking information was not high.

Border Inspection is part of the active-duty police forces, with strict management, so it’s also unlikely that they would leak information.

For ordinary people, Customs is too remote, so it’s unlikely that the information leaked from there.

Compared to the two Ship Agencies with very few staff, it is more likely that the news leaked from the Port Authority.

Because every time a foreign vessel docks, the port has to prepare for pilotage, mooring, waste collection, loading and unloading cargo, refueling, watering, among other things. It is no exaggeration to say that even the dock cleaners are aware.

Director Zhang was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "We will certainly need to investigate this in the future, but the immediate priority is to identify the suspects and to figure out how they exchange Foreign Exchange Certificates from foreign sailors.

Director Jiang, I plan to assign Old Liu and Salted Fish to one group, to find and lock in the suspects. Let Staff Xiao join Chief Zhou and Xiao Liu in another group."

Just as Director Jiang was about to speak, Staff Xiao carefully said, "Director Zhang, Director Jiang, I do propaganda work, I’m not skilled at solving cases."

"You’re not being asked to solve the case, but to help take photos."

"Take photos of what?"

"Take photos of the suspects exchanging Foreign Exchange Certificates with foreign sailors, because without photos, it’s difficult for us to investigate and collect evidence from the foreign sailors. So your task is very important, not only you need to take good photos, but also you must not let the suspects notice."

Director Zhang stared at him seriously and sternly.

Director Jiang added with a smile, "Your camera has a long lens, doesn’t it? It can take pictures from afar. Take them from a distance, and we will help you create conditions for photographing."

"How will you create conditions?"

"Old Zhou borrowed a ’rabbit head’ this morning. You can sit on the ’rabbit head’ and take pictures secretly from a distance."

Director Jiang smiled and pointed at the youngest investigator in the office, "Xiao Liu also borrowed a Volga from the labor service company. Depending on the situation, you can sit in the ’rabbit head’ or the Volga."

Staff Xiao didn’t expect to be called over for this task and couldn’t help but smile, "Okay, I’ll try."

Director Zhang added, "Considering we might need to keep surveillance up to East Sea, when Old Liu and Salted Fish are identifying suspects with the public security activists, we can conduct discreet investigations, but we must not show our faces to the suspects so as not to arouse their suspicion in any subsequent action."

Director Jiang turned back and smiled, "Salted Fish, if we can successfully launch this first strike, it’s all on you."

"Director Jiang, rest assured, we will firmly accomplish the mission."

"Good."

Director Zhang looked at his watch, stood up and said, "Director Jiang, the foreign sailors won’t be ashore until this evening at the earliest, but the suspects might have already arrived. Shall we hurry and get ready? Those who need to change into plain clothes should go quickly, and we’ll move out separately in ten minutes?"

"Yes, let’s split into three groups today. Old Liu and Salted Fish, you guys take the public security activists and look around the area first, see if you can bump into the two suspects."

"Yes!"

"Old Huang and Xiao Liu, you two along with Staff Xiao should also go out and scout, but keep your distance from Old Liu and Salted Fish."

"Sure, we understand."

"Director Zhang, let’s go together to the passenger terminal first to greet Director Wei, asking them to help us watch out. Then we’ll visit the Port District Bureau. Given the prominent physical characteristics of the suspects, let’s ask the Port District Bureau to check the nearby hotels and hostels, as the suspects might have already arrived and settled in."

PS: "Rabbit head" refers to a type of motorized tricycle, retrofitted from motorcycles, which was similar to taxis back in the day. There were also diesel engine-powered versions, mainly for hauling goods.

In the south, they were also called "motor tricycles" or "san-ka’er," while in the north they were known as "san-beng-zi." In Dahuijing, the unique local term is "Mazda."