Jailed gangster 'king' to be deported to US

Infamous bandit Kwai Ping-hung will be released from Stanley Prison on Saturday and be deported to the United States.

The 59-year-old gangster, one of the three most notorious criminals in Hong Kong, carried out 20 armed robberies over three decades and was imprisoned for 24 years in 2003.

Authorities are inclined to deporting him the day he is released, The Standard's sister paper, Sing Tao Daily reported, because he travels on an American passport and is such a high-profile criminal.

According to sources, Kwai will be released under the supervision of correctional services department staff. Afterward, police officers from the special duties unit will escort him to the airport. He would then board the plane on his own.

Kwai, along with "Big Spender" Cheung Tze-keung and Yip Kai-foon, were nicknamed "The Three Kings of Thieves."

Although Kwai was often mentioned alongside Cheung and Yip, he always kept a low profile. H was believed to have brandished dangerous weapons, such as grenades, during robberies. He was suspected to have stolen HK$25 million over the course of his life of crime here.

In May 1985, Kwai robbed a watch shop on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. He shot up the shop's display cabinet twice and stole items worth HK$1.8 million.

He fled after being involved in a shoot-out with police, leaving 11 people wounded.

Nine years after that, he got away with a HK$10 million haul from another watch shop, this time in Central. Again, there was a shoot-out with the police, and this time a 23-year-old woman was killed and six people were wounded.

A record HK$2 million reward was issued in 2001 for his arrest. A red notice was also issued by Interpol, leading him to flee and hide somewhere in southeast Asia.

However, two years after that, Kwai returned, leading to his capture on Christmas eve of 2003.