Too Bad I Take Things Seriously-Chapter 626 - 239: Crime of Selling Stolen Goods, Watermelon Seller Arrested!_3

These elderly people gathered together, swearing constantly. They had been analyzing and guessing the reasons. They had been moving pumpkins for half a month. Their nephews, sons, and other relatives had also helped sell them for half a month without any issues. Now, this had suddenly happened... It completely bewildered them. It also made many feel uneasy and somewhat afraid.

"Everyone, don’t panic." After a while, Zhao Dezhu, who had been smoking an old pipe, stood up and said in a deep voice, "The pumpkins were moved by us; this has nothing to do with other people."

"If they want to arrest someone, let them arrest us!"

"It’s just a small matter. We are so many people, all of us old, with not much to live for. If they arrest us, they will have to provide for us. They wouldn’t dare do much to us!"

"We’re going to the police station now to get our people back!"

He issued a call to action in front of the village’s elderly and quickly won many people’s agreement. Indeed, they were all of considerable age. They didn’t care where they lived anymore. It was said that the food in detention was quite good, much better than the plain meals they had at home. Plus, there were people to take care of them. Anyway, no matter how one looked at it, those arrested were all their relatives. The police arresting people so indiscriminately—that was their fault too!

「Zizhou.」

「A certain town’s police station.」

"Zhou... Zhou Suo, the interrogation is complete." Three policemen looked exhausted as they submitted a thick interrogation report.

This time, after receiving Hu Wenning’s report, they struck decisively. Conducting a search in the town, they caught the perpetrators red-handed and brought the fifty-seven pumpkin-selling suspects back to the station. Once the people were brought in, the interrogation began immediately.

These people were initially all defiant, claiming the pumpkins were grown in their own fields. But such poor lies were easily exposed by the police. The village these people belonged to, Zhaojia Village, didn’t have large pumpkin fields, and very few families there grew pumpkins.

Next, the pumpkin sellers argued that they had bought the pumpkins at a low price from someone else. But when asked from whom they had bought them, they all hesitated and couldn’t give a clear answer.

Eventually, everyone confessed and admitted the origin of the pumpkins. Indeed, they had come from Hu Wenning’s pumpkin fields.

"This shows they all knew the origin of the pumpkins," Zhou Yuantu said solemnly, looking at the thick stack of interrogation reports in front of him. "These were derived from illegal gains, yet they still chose to sell them to make a profit. This conduct constitutes the crime of concealing and disguising the proceeds of crime. Once we complete the chain of evidence, we can report the case and have the procuratorate prosecute."

These fifty-seven people had obviously violated the criminal law, committing the crime of concealing and disguising the proceeds of crime. Once the evidence was fully collected, along with the complainant’s testimonies, prosecution could be initiated. This crime, generally considered, would result in a sentence of up to three years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention.

"But... Zhou Suo, we’ve arrested the pumpkin sellers, but what about these elderly people?" a policeman asked with a bitter smile.

If they were to prosecute, there would need to be a complete account of the crime. The pumpkins these individuals sold had not been stolen by them. They had only assisted in disposing of and selling the stolen goods. Strictly speaking, the criminals were the group of elderly people from the village. But these elderly people were really too old, with a majority over the age of seventy-five. Zhaojia Village was a typical left-behind village. The population living there wasn’t large, about eighty households, mostly elderly and children. The fifty-seven young and middle-aged people they had arrested actually constituted almost all of Zhaojia Village’s available workforce.

"Tomorrow, you guys go find these elderly people, calculate the value of the stolen pumpkins, and administer an administrative penalty first," Zhou Yuantu said after taking a deep breath. He then pondered, "As for criminal penalties..."

According to relevant criminal law, elderly people who commit crimes are not exempt from detention. The exemptions from detention refer to administrative detention. If an elderly person’s actions violate the public security administration punishments law or other laws, administrative detention is not applicable. But if the violation pertains to criminal law, they should indeed be subject to criminal detention.

However, according to his subordinates, these elderly individuals were very old and had various health issues. If something were to happen during their detention... He really couldn’t bear the responsibility.

At this moment, a wave of noisy disturbances suddenly erupted outside the police station.

"Release them! Release them! Release them!"

"Why are you arresting people? We moved the pumpkins, what does this have to do with them?"

"If you have the guts, arrest us! What kind of skill is bullying these young people?"

"It’s just a few pumpkins! Is it worth making such a big fuss?"

A chorus of elderly voices drifted in, interrupting Zhou Yuantu’s thoughts. He couldn’t help but look up and walk towards the commotion outside. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Upon stepping out of the police station, he saw a shocking scene. A dense crowd of elderly people was blocking the entrance of the police station, continuously shouting for their relatives to be released. By a rough estimate, the number of elderly people had already surpassed a hundred! They surrounded the entrance, continuously causing a ruckus and demanding the release of those arrested.

"Zhou... Zhou Suo, what do we do now?" Seeing this, several policemen became flustered and looked somewhat at a loss.

"They’ve come at just the right time," Zhou Yuantu said seriously, taking a deep breath. "Hu Wenning is also at the station. Go call her out. We’ll compare the losses and impose administrative fines on these elderly people."