The income exceeded that from drugs or protection rackets. Not that Mr. Lee made no effort to clean things up. Internal pressure for their removal was great, for corruption permeates all party levels from local faction bosses to the highest echelons. The police, too, are tainted. In any case, they seem better trained at riot control than in keeping the streets safe.
Election campaigns are costly and many local leaders rely on the help of business.
For others, buying votes is as important as wooing voters. Often, it is gangsters who organize the payments. The result is a proliferation of kickbacks. Mobsters, too, must be compensated for their services. Repayment methods range from overlooking their rackets to re-zoning for commercial development cheap agricultural land they had bought.