The police chief of Bien Hoa Town in southern Vietnam has been dismissed because of his connections to two gangs operating illegal betting, loan sharking and extortion rackets that were busted in April this year.

The punishment was meted out to senior lieutenant colonel Nguyen Thanh Long due to “wrongdoing at work,” the Dong Nai Province Police Department said Tuesday (December 28).

Dong Nai police have so far detained more than 100 people from the two gangs, one led by Nguyen Van Long of Ho Nai Ward, and the other by Pham Duy Hung of Tan Hiep Ward.

Major General Nguyen Van Khanh, director of Dong Nai Police Department, said Long had “abnormal relations” with Nguyen Van Long and they’d met many times at the former’s office and at their homes.

While reviewing Bien Hoa police investigation into 14 cases involving the two gangs, provincial police found evidence that criminals were spared in three cases after gang leader Long met the police chief to ask him for the favor.