National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 853 - 792 Cluster Campaign

"Shi, how’s it going over there?"

The voice of the brigade chief, Jin Nanyan, was clear and sounded slightly concerned.

Shi Zhonglong’s body wriggled twice in the cramped space of the car and said, "Everything is going smoothly; the suspect is currently under our surveillance."

The brigade chief said, "Make sure you’ve got the right person; don’t make a mistake."

"Yes. There won’t be a mistake. The suspect is as thin as a quail and even runs a Rookie Station. He can barely move a delivery box. One of these days, we really need to screen all these delivery point operators."

"Simpler said than done. Just try bringing me back 13 people one of these days," Jin Nanyan snorted and said, "You talk tactics like a pro, but when it comes to catching criminals, you throw your hands up."

"Chief Jin, honestly, if you’re comparing me to Jiang Yuan, I would take that as a compliment," Shi Zhonglong chuckled happily.

"Fine, just remember to bring the person back safely. Jiang Yuan wants clues, statements. We at Bai Luo are counting on these third-class merits; we’d better wrap this up properly with everyone accounted for," the brigade chief quickly instructed before hanging up.

suspects, spread across 12 locations. Arresting them would require 13 teams. Considering two of them were suspected of carrying firearms, the remaining 11 groups were not to be taken lightly either; each fully staffed with eight members and two vehicles, all armed.

This is what sets narcotics police apart from other police forces, always prepared for the worst scenario, ready to attack even when outgunned. The so-called fire-power inadequacy phobia truly exists among narcotics officers.

"Little Ma, how is it on your end?"

After hanging up with the brigade chief, Shi Zhonglong began making calls to check on his subordinates.

Officer Ma Xiaopei responded sternly, "We are ready and can make the arrest at any moment."

Shi Zhonglong: "Make sure you’ve got the right person; don’t make a mistake."

"Yes."

"What’s the situation on the ground?"

"The suspect..." Ma Xiaopei paused, then said, "is a single mother, with her child. Probably very short on money, which is why she became a mule... The difficulty in arrest shouldn’t be high, but dealing with the child will be challenging."

"After you’ve caught her, contact the support staff to get in touch with the women’s federation, and also ask if the suspect has any relatives who can take care of the child," Shi Zhonglong’s voice was cold and ruthless. "When you make the arrest you can be tactful, but your primary concern should be your own safety. If threatened, draw your guns decisively, understand?"

Ma Xiaopei exclaimed, "Shi, we will take care of ourselves."

"Not just yourself, but your team members too. The brigade chief won’t say this, nor will the bureau chief. They speak what people want to hear in media appearances. But life is ours to protect. Everyone is born of parents. She’s a single mother, and we are children of parents too. If you were to weigh whose life is more valuable, everyone’s life is more valuable than that of drug dealers!"

"Yes!"

"Don’t pity her. Which mule isn’t pitiful? All these mules are from the same channel, people who have been driven to the wall by online loans; it’s not a new thing."

Ma Xiaopei hesitated and then said, "It might also be that she was harassed by debt collectors to desperation. Being a single mother with a child isn’t like other situations."

"Our country has plenty of regulations against debt collection methods," Shi countered. "If a single mother calls the police, wouldn’t someone help her? Crying in a police station with a child can definitely find someone to assist. Little Ma, I’m telling you, those willing to become mules for ten to twenty thousand yuan, while some may be truly desperate, others see it as an opportunity to turn things around."

Ma Xiaopei was stunned, watching the busy single mother at the roadside stall making pancake rolls with a genuine and natural smile; her little daughter, about four or five, had just come back from kindergarten and was quietly sitting under the eaves of a neighboring shop, drawing.

Would this scene drawn on canvas, remembered by the little girl years later, be happiness or sadness?

If her family were wealthy and happy, that memory would likely be happy. But if her family were impoverished or unhappy, it would likely be saddening.

And a single mother hoping to turn sadness into happiness by being a mule would have to harm enough teenagers in a school to even hope for that.

Ma Xiaopei checked her Model 64 handgun holstered at her waist. Its firepower was much less than that of the Model 92; hitting a person felt much like the difference between being hit by a cow and a pig.

But the Model 64 had much better concealability than the 92. As a female officer often tasked with extremely dangerous advance reconnaissance missions, sometimes she didn’t even carry a gun for the sake of concealment.

In her heart, Ma Xiaopei hoped that this single mother could be apprehended smoothly without the need to use weapons.

"In a moment, I’ll go up to buy something. When she’s making the pancake, you guys move in, one person secure the child, two others restrain her. Be careful with your moves, don’t get burnt..." Ma Xiaopei went on to detail the task plan meticulously.

Everyone got clear on their roles, and then came the long wait.

Ma Xiaopei continued to consider all possible changes. What if the operation dragged on until the suspect packed up? What if it delayed until she went home?

Multiple people involved in an arrest always carried such risks, Ma Xiaopei didn’t even know how many would actually participate, but no matter what, this task of their side was unlikely to be prioritized.

"All ready, begin the arrest in 30 seconds."

The moment the order came through, Ma Xiaopei’s eyes snapped open.

"Proceed as planned."

Ma Xiaopei pushed open the car door, headed straight for the roadside stall, and then said the line she had prepared for a long time, "Boss lady, one pancake please."

"Sure," replied the stall owner crisply.

"Business is tough for a woman running a stall alone while also taking care of a child, isn’t it?" Ma Xiaopei observed the woman’s technique in cooking pancakes.

The stall owner smiled, glanced at her daughter, and said, "It’s been hard for a few years, but it’ll get better once my daughter grows up. Honestly, life wasn’t much better before, it was just manageable, these past few years... well, they’ve been manageable too."

While she spoke, two other police officers quietly moved closer.

As the owner of a snack stall, the woman noticed their approach but simply smiled.

"Do you eat spicy food?"

"I do." While speaking, Ma Xiaopei took a side step and pushed the stall owner away from the stall.

The other two officers stepped forward simultaneously, each grabbing one of the suspect’s arms and pinning her to the ground.

The stall owner was momentarily stunned, then started to fiercely resist until the cold handcuffs were placed on her wrists.

"Are you the police?" the stall owner asked Ma Xiaopei.

"We are the police." Ma Xiaopei nodded slightly and asked, "What is your name?"

The stall owner suddenly stopped struggling, lying flat on the ground. Seeing another female officer holding her daughter and turning away, she lost all her strength.

"What is your name?" the officer on the left pressed down on her arm and asked loudly.

"I’m Wang Qian, call me Wang Qian!" the stall owner said as tears streamed down her face, "Why are you arresting me?"

"Why do you think we’re arresting you?" Ma Xiaopei’s expression was cold. She felt sympathy for Wang Qian, but only during the discussion phase prior to the arrest; once it came to action, the rigor of training and several real-life experiences left no room for sympathy.

Besides, the procedure after capturing the suspect was no longer in her control.

...

Zhengguang Bureau.

The command center.

Still, the silver-gray walls, a huge screen wall composed of a dozen large screens, displayed the different situations on more than a dozen fronts.

Live video from the enforcement scene, recordings from surveillance cameras, videos from interrogation rooms, images from satellites and drones, traffic and monitoring videos, unidentified data icons...

A dozen screens showing vast amounts of information seemed chaotic, but in reality, each screen was managed by a technician below it, with two displays in front of them—one showing real-time data, the other for their own operational use.

The bureau chief, satisfied with the several-meter-long screen wall, remarked somewhat proudly, "The performance of our command center is quite impressive, especially in cluster operations; the effectiveness is notable, and its role is significant."

"Indeed, the departments receive substantial support from the rear, get real-time feedback, and the command core also receives the fresh intelligence..." Tao Lu chimed in, his eyelids twitching.

Cluster operations were a significant concept, introduced in recent years as the most advanced domestic combat strategy by combining multiple departments to serve one or several cases. This method spanned across police types and regions, featuring intelligence sharing, cooperative investigations, and unified actions.

Compared to the task force model, cluster operations had much more substantial striking power and could handle more complex cases. This approach was equivalent to a temporary coalition of police forces, adding whatever units were necessary and involving any region needed for combative purposes.

In terms of outcomes, cluster operations were pronounced, routinely resulting in the arrests of hundreds, spanning provinces and regions, and eliminating the travel-related hardships of task force officers.

Naturally, such a level of operational capability required high-ranking officers for command. For Zhengguang Bureau, Tao, as head of the Criminal Police Brigade, was somewhat underqualified.

Typically, this role would need someone from the Ministry, or at the very least, an official dispatched from the city bureau.

However, from another perspective, if someone could command a cluster operation, they essentially qualified for the position of a high-ranking officer.

Tao couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Yuan; this operation might not qualify as a cluster operation, but it certainly bore some resemblance.

And Jiang Yuan had commanded similar operations several times already.

"All the suspects on the Coconut line should be arrested now." Jiang Yuan waited for reports from various teams and then came to report cheerfully.

The bureau chief had already heard the report before he arrived and laughed heartily, "Excellent, though we put in a lot of effort, it was worth it! It’s as if a hidden heroin trafficking network was eliminated, and several homicides were solved in the process!"

"The main goal was to prevent them from forming a complete chain." Tao Lu also commended Jiang Yuan, "Coconut was aspiring to transition to synthetic drugs, but the chemist he recruited underperformed and Coconut’s capabilities in sourcing raw materials were also lacking. However, the chemist gained some experience from processing corpses, and now we have confirmed there are 11 bodies, all drug addicts and drug dealers—still very dangerous."

The bureau chief nodded, "Indeed, we need to properly establish this front, increase the regulation of various chemical reagents, intensify inspections and reviews of controlled items..."

By this time, his conversation was no longer directed at Tao.

Tao was now facing Huang Qiangmin.

"With 11 bodies, our ’Newly Added Second Supplemental Agreement’ is considered complete," Huang Qiangmin whispered to Tao, not to alert others.

Tao forced a smile, "I know, what’s next..."

"Next, we need to return for a bit," Huang Qiangmin cut Tao off, smiling, "The cases in Zhengguang Bureau are already few, and Qinghe City’s ’Cold Cases Resolution Initiative’ has reached a critical phase; we need to go back and lend a hand."

Huang Qiangmin detailed the "Cold Cases Resolution Initiative" of Qinghe City to Tao, who, recognizing it as an annual task arranged by the higher city bureau, understood it indeed required serious attention. Despite his regret, he inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.