206: Chapter 206 The Tanker Truck Case Comes to a Close
Just like that, the press conference came to a hasty end, and Captain Li Liang was surrounded by reporters before he could even leave the room.
"Captain Li, didn't you repeatedly claim that the case was a child trafficking case? How do you explain the current situation?"
"Captain Li, that comrade named Lei Zhen just now claimed to have been a member of the Special Task Force, and you previously had disagreements with him regarding the case. But as facts have proven, he was right. How do you feel now? Do you feel like a failure?"
"Captain Li, you insisted it was a child kidnapping case, and now you've been proven wrong. May I ask if you feel embarrassed?"
"Captain Li, anyone with a discerning eye can see many loopholes in this case. As a professional criminal investigator, did you really not notice them, or did you intentionally turn a blind eye?"
"Captain Li, what kind of courage allowed you to blatantly talk such nonsense at such a serious press conference?"
Every question was like a steel needle, piercing deeply into Captain Li Liang's chest.
Captain Li Liang's face turned beet red from the questioning, and he wished he could find a hole to crawl into on the spot.
Finally, he managed to break through the crowd with great difficulty and fled in disgrace.
"Lei Zhen, it's all because of that damn Lei Zhen!!" Captain Li Liang smashed the wall in anger, almost grinding his back teeth to pieces.
However, Lei Zhen wasn't having an easy time either.
The fact that he had harmed Kang Minghao was set in stone, and in the end, he could only obediently submit to the law and was taken away by the police from the Municipal Bureau.
Gu Qingcheng immediately went to find her father, Gu Wenhai.
"Dad, Lei Zhen found the Tan Brothers' drugs, so that should be considered a great merit, right? Why do they still have to lock him up?"
Gu Wenhai sighed, "Performing a merit is one thing, but breaking the law is another; the two are not contradictory. Kang Minghao was turned into half a eunuch by Lei Zhen. Do you think it's okay not to lock him up?"
"But..."
"No more buts." Gu Wenhai interrupted her, "Unless it can be proven now that Kang Minghao is related to Lin Miaozhen's fall, Lei Zhen won't be able to escape the charge of intentional injury. Even if Mayor Huo steps in, it will be hard to protect him."
Just as he finished speaking, Wan Qiang rushed into the Director's office, forgetting even to knock.
Wan Qiang paused when he saw Gu Qingcheng there, but he guessed immediately that she was there for Lei Zhen.
"What is it? Why the panic?" Gu Wenhai asked.
"Director, there's hope for Lei Zhen," Wan Qiang said. "We've found the Jinbei van that appeared at the scene of Lin Miaozhen's fall and have successfully captured four suspects."
"Really?" Gu Wenhai stood up excitedly.
Wan Qiang continued, "And they've all confessed. Lin Miaozhen was captured and taken to that unfinished building under Kang Minghao's instructions. Kang Minghao wanted to sexually assault Lin Miaozhen, but she refused to the death and was eventually forced to jump."
Gu Qingcheng was also full of pleasant surprise. "That's great! As long as Kang Minghao is the true culprit behind Lin Miaozhen's fall, then Lei Zhen's problem won't be that serious."
Gu Wenhai said on the spot, "Arrest Kang Minghao immediately. He must have seen the press conference just now. Since he was so close to the Tan Brothers before, he knows he won't be able to stay out of it and will definitely try to run."
Wan Qiang said, "We've already arranged for people to go to the airport in advance. It won't be that easy for this kid to escape."
"By the way, there's one more thing," Wan Qiang added. "Just now, Zhao Gang from the Qinghe Police Station called me and said that Kang Minghao once tried to bribe a police officer in their station named Zhu Xiaojun, who is also Lei Zhen's apprentice.
Kang Minghao gave Zhu Xiaojun three million to quietly plant a bag of drugs in Lei Zhen's car to frame him."
"There's such a thing?" Both Gu Wenhai and his daughter were shocked.
"At that time, Zhu Xiaojun's father owed hundreds of thousands in high-interest loans, and Zhu Xiaojun wavered, but in the end, he chose the side of light and returned the money to Kang Minghao. Additionally, he also handed over the drugs the other party used to frame Lei Zhen to Zhao Gang."
"That's good." Gu Wenhai nodded. "With this evidence, Lei Zhen's crime of beating Kang Minghao is even smaller. Even if I can't protect him, Mayor Huo's intervention will surely be enough."
Gu Wenhai simply called Mayor Huo and explained the current situation.
"Lei Zhen discovered those three tons of drugs, which is a great merit. Moreover, it has now been proven that his suspicion of Kang Minghao was well-founded, and the so-called beating is also excusable. So, release him now and give him a chance to redeem himself by investigating Kang Minghao and the drug chain behind him thoroughly."
"What about Secretary Kang's side?" Gu Wenhai hesitated.
"It's fine. His own son is suspected of drug trafficking. Even if Kang Jianshe can distance himself, his dream of being transferred to Xichuan as Governor is likely shattered. Now he's thinking about how to clear himself from this matter. As for Lei Zhen, he really won't have the time to care. Don't worry; if there's a problem, just blame it on me."
Gu Wenhai hung up and immediately ordered, "Release Lei Zhen. He will lead and re-establish the 812 Special Task Force. I'll give him ten days; he must investigate this case clearly for me."
"Yes, Director, I'll get right on it."
————————————
The subsequent developments went very smoothly. As expected, Kang Minghao tried to run, but he was blocked at the airport and eventually led away in handcuffs to a police car.
Although he stubbornly denied the charges of drug trafficking and harming Lin Miaozhen, the financial transactions between him and the Tan Brothers, as well as the millions in compensation he paid to those kidnappers, clearly proved his criminal behavior.
Furthermore, the police found that Kang Minghao was actually a drug user himself, and they found a full two-kilogram bag of drugs in his villa.
Now, even if he had no other criminal behavior, he would face a fixed-term imprisonment of more than seven years for the crime of illegal possession of drugs.
More importantly, after undergoing continuous interrogation by the police, Xie Kefan, whose identity had been exposed, finally lowered his head in the face of evidence and confessed to all his crimes.
And Kang Minghao, who had been stubbornly denying everything, finally gave up his resistance upon hearing that Xie Kefan had confessed.
Over at the Huaxi Police Station, everyone cheered upon hearing that the true culprit who harmed Lin Miaozhen had been found.
Meanwhile, Kang Minghao's lackey, Shen Ao, sat at his workstation trembling.
Before long, several criminal police officers from the Municipal Bureau arrived directly in front of him, and a pair of shiny silver handcuffs was placed on his hands.
Because the drugs used to frame Lei Zhen were provided by him to Zhu Xiaojun, and besides Zhu Xiaojun's fingerprints, there were also Shen Ao's fingerprints on them; he had no way to defend himself.
Soon, the police also found that Shen Ao had millions in assets whose source could not be explained.
Ten days later, all the materials for the 812 case, including the seized drugs, confessions, transfer records, search records, and so on, were submitted by Lei Zhen to the Pre-trial Detachment.
Then, after being signed by Director Gu Wenhai, they were bundled with the [Indictment Recommendation] and transferred to the local Procuratorate.
The subsequent work would be up to the Procuratorate and the Court.
Kang Minghao, along with Xie Kefan, Yao Shengli, and others, would all face the punishment of the law.
Because of his significant meritorious performance, not only was Lei Zhen not prosecuted for the injury charge, but he was also nominated for a personal first-class merit.
The members of the second team of the Special Task Force—Gu Qingcheng, Zheng Wenchang, Zhu Xiaojun, and Yin Yong—were awarded personal third-class merits by the Municipal Bureau.
Zheng Honglin also gained the opportunity for special recruitment into the police force due to his outstanding performance in this case.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would soon be able to follow in his father's footsteps and become a true people's policeman.
Everything was developing in a positive direction, and before long, Lei Zhen received more good news.
Lin Miaozhen had woken up!!