Prosecutors in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality said Friday they had officially charged a former police officer with taking bribes and protecting organized crime.

Wen Qiang, former deputy director of Chongqing's public security department, was also accused of rape and being unable to explain the sources of his assets, according to a statement published on the website of the municipal procuratorate, www.cqjcy.gov.cn.

Prosecutors said investigations showed Wen had abused his power by offering benefits to others and accepted huge bribes personally or with his wife Zhou Xiaoya when he served in a series of Communist Party of China and administrative posts at the Public Security Bureau of Chongqing.

He had also covered up or allowed organized crime led by notorious gangleaders, including Xie Caiping, Wang Tianlun and Gong Gangmo, and received bribes from them.

The statement did not reveal the amount of bribes or his unidentified assets.

Wen's wife and three other police officers involved in the case also faced prosecution.

Wen was among many high-ranking local officials prosecuted during a massive crackdown against organized crimes started in June last year, which exposed deep ties between police and criminals.

In addition, former head of the city's traffic police Chen Honggang, former vice director of Chongqing's public security department Peng Changjian, and former vice general manager of the Development and Management Co. Ltd. of Chongqing's bonded zone Liu Xinyong, were also prosecuted in separate cases on corruption charges.

Chongqing police have detained 1,176 people and prosecuted 782 people, including 78 gangs, allegedly involved in organized crimes over the past six months, according to the statement.

A total of 87 officials have been prosecuted during the crackdown, including 12 high-ranking officials.