"I was investigating a drugs case in Yingde, at the Xinhuayue Hotel, in March and found one of the drug gang heads was Zheng's younger brother, while another head, Zeng Weibiao, was one of his former classmates and came from the same town as him," Xie told local media in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, on Tuesday.

Xie said he was ordered to release all the detainees after he reported the case to Zheng. He had detained a total of 175 suspects and drug addicts and seized more than 2,000 grams of drugs.

Zheng's younger brother holds a 15 percent stake of the hotel where Xie said drugs were being traded, with Zeng owning 70 percent of the business.

Xie and Zhu refused to follow the order, but they were over ruled by Zheng, Xie claimed.

Xie was transferred to the Yingde bureau of justice while Zhu was asked to leave the bureau in August.

Both Xie and Zhu said they hoped to be restored to their former posts.

In another development, Chen Hongping, 58, the former Party chief of Jieyang city in the eastern part of Guangdong province, has been under investigation on suspicion of violating laws and Party discipline, sources with the Guangdong provincial commission for discipline inspection said on Wednesday.

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