BEIJING, Feb 1 (AFP) - A former police officer in China was sentenced to death on Monday in the latest court verdict following a huge mafia crackdown that has lifted the lid on official collusion with gangsters.

Yue Cun was convicted of crimes including operating a range of illegal businesses and causing intentional injury in the huge municipality of Chongqing in southwestern China, the official China News Service said.

At least six people have already been sentenced to death in the sensational trials in Chongqing, home to 30 million people, but Yue appeared to be the first police officer given the death penalty.

Calls to the court went unanswered.

The Chongqing crackdown comes amid a nationwide push to stamp out rampant corruption, which President Hu Jintao has described as one of the greatest threats to the legitimacy of Communist Party rule.

State press reported last month that the top official ensnared in the crackdown, Wen Qiang, would go on trial on Tuesday.

Wen, 54, is a former top Chongqing police and judicial official who stands accused of protecting an intricate web of businessmen, officials and mobsters.

The trials have grabbed headlines nationwide with their sordid tales of sex, gambling and graft in the city of 30 million people.

Besides being charged with accepting bribes and possessing huge amounts of money and assets he could not explain, Wen has also been charged with rape, the People's Daily newspaper has reported.

Since the crackdown began last June, charges have been brought against hundreds of people, including 87 government officials, in scores of cases, the People's Daily said.

More than 3,300 people have been detained in the crackdown.