Russian Organized Crime

Organization and Structure

Russian Organized Crime Groups and Structure in Russia - In early 1993, the Russian
Ministry of Internal Affairs reported there were over 5,000 organized crime groups
operating in Russia. These groups were comprised of an estimated 100,000
members with a leadership of 18,000. Although Russian authorities have currently
identified over 5,000 criminal groups in that country, Russian officials believe that
only approximately 300 of those have some identifiable structure.11 Organized
crime groups in Russia are not nearly as structured as those in the U.S., such as the
LCN.

Knowledgeable sources within the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

(FinCEN)12 have provided one model of the structure of groups in Russia. The
principle behind this structure is to minimize contact with other cells that could lead
to the identification of the entire organization.

Each boss, called a "pakhan," controls four criminal cells through an intermediary
called a "brigadier." The boss employs two spies that watch over the action of the
brigadier to ensure loyalty and that he does not get too powerful. At the bottom of
the structure are criminal cells specializing in various types of criminal activity or
functions such as drugs, prostitution, political contacts, and "enforcers." A similar
structure places an elite leadership on top which is buffered by support and security
personnel from the street operators who are commifting the crimes. Street
operators are not privy to the identity of their leadership. Strategy and planning is
done only at the top echelon in order to minimize the risk of detection.

According to law enforcement sources, those structures described above would fall
into the old style of Soviet criminal enterprises. It is quite possible as organized
crime has changed in Russia, so has the structure of these groups.
Thieves' Code of Conduct - There is a traditional code of conduct within this old style
of organized crime in Russia called "Vory v Zakone," or thieves in law. This group
existed throughout the Soviet era and continues today throughout the republics of
the former Soviet Union. In this society the thieves in law live and obey the
"Vorovskoy Zakon," the thieves' code. The members are bound by 18 codes and if
they are broken, the transgression is punishable by death.

Law enforcement officials in the former Soviet Union indicate that most of the
organized crime groups are well organized with sophisticated technical equipment,
computers, transportation, financial support, and an excellent counterintelligence
network. Those groups are involved in extortion, precious metal and raw material
smuggling, money laundering, fraud, weapons smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and
black marketing.

The Thieves' Code

A thief is bound by the Code to:

1. Forsake his relatives--mother, father, brothers, sisters...

2. Not have a family of his own -- no wife, no children; this does not however,
preclude him from having a lover.
3. Never, under any circumstances work, no mafter how much difficulty this
brings-, live only on means gleaned from thievery.
4. Help other thieves -- both by moral and material support, utilizing the
commune of thieves.
5. Keep secret information about the whereabouts of accomplices (i.e. dens,
districts, hideouts, safe apartments, etc.).
6. In unavoidable situations (if a thief is under investigation) to take the blame
for someone else's crime; this buys the other person time of freedom.
7. Demand a convocation of inquiry for the purpose of resolving disputes in the
event of a conflict between oneself and other thieves, or between thieves.
8. If necessary, participate in such inquiries.
9. Carry out the punishment of the offending thief as decided by the
convocation.
10.Not resist carrying out the decision of punishing the offending thief who is
found guilty, with punishment determined by the convocation.
11.Have good command of the thieves'jargon ("Fehnay").
12.Not gamble without being abie to cover losses.
13.Teach the trade to young beginners.
14.Have, if possible, informants from the rank and file of thieves.
 15.Not lose your reasoning ability when using alcohol.
16.Have nothing to do with the authorities (particularly with the ITU [Correctional
Labor Authority]), not participate in public activities, nor join any community
organizations.
17.Not take weapons from the hands of authorities; not serve in the military.
18.Make good on promises given to other thieves.

Translated from: Dictionary: Prison, Camp, Blotnoi, Jargon

(Speech and Graphic Portraits of Soviet Prisons)

Authors-compilers: Dantsik Sergeyevich Baldaev,

Vladimir Kuz'mich Belko, and Igor Mikhailovich Isupov.

(Occupation of authors unknown.)

Russian Organized Crime Groups in the United States

Although Russian organized crime activity in the United States has been expanding
for the past 20 years, its most significant growth has occurred during the past five
years. In August 1993, the FBI reported there were 15 organized crime groups in the
United States with former Soviet ethnic origins. 13 There is considerable debate in
the law enforcement community as to the level of organization and structure of
Russian organized crime groups in the United States. Additionally, many of the
Russian emigres who are involved in criminal activity in this country may be career
criminals specializing in crime areas having little or nothing to do with Russian
organized crime groups.

Current information indicates that most Russian organized crime groups are loosely
organized and do not have elaborate levels of structure. These groups are often
influenced by their ethnic or regional backgrounds. They have formed networks that
operate in situations of mutual interest and often shift alliances to meet particular
needs.
There is ample information that Russian crime groups operating on the East Coast
cooperate and communicate with West Coast groups. Additionally, Russian
organized crime groups in the U.S. communicate and operate with organized crime
groups in Russia. FBI Director Louis Freeh stated that over 200 of Russia's 6,000-odd
crime gangs operate with American counterparts in 17 U.S. cities in 14 states.
According to intelligence reports, members of criminal groups in Russia are sent to
reinforce and consolidate links between groups in Russia and the United States.
Russian organized crime figures are also sent to this country to perform a service
such as a gangland murder or extortion.

The following example provides some insight into this activity.

According to law enforcement sources, Vyatcheslav Ivankov ("Little Japanese") a

Russian organized crime leader, was believed to have traveled to the United States
to organize ROC groups in the U.S. and establish links to ROC groups in the former
Soviet Union. Ivankov is considered to be a highranking organized crime leader, or
thief in law, both in Russia and the U.S. Ivankov was arrested in Brooklyn, New York,
on June 8, 1995, for trying to extort $3.5 million from a Wall Street investment firm.

Vyatcheslav Ivankov

Vyatcheslav Ivankov Some descriptions of the more publicized Russian organized

crime groups in the United States are as follows:

According to law enforcement sources, there are approximately 300 former Soviet
Union crime figures and associates in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San
Jose. There are approximately 600 to 800 Russian crime figures and associates in
the Los Angeles area, home to the second largest number of Russian immigrants in
the United States. These figures include members of the Russian and Armenian
organized crime groups.

Northern California Auto Theft Group - A Northern California auto theft group came
to the attention of law enforcement personnel in Sacramento and other parts of
Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State in early 1993. This group is
primarily made up of blue collar type workers from the Ukraine and Western Russia.
Specializing in auto theft and VIN switching, younger members of this group steal
vehicles while the older members operate body shops. This group utilizes Interstate
5 to travel to Oregon and Washington to sell the stolen vehicle parts to other
Ukrainian and Russian criminals. Additionally, this group is becoming involved in
extortion, cellular telephone fraud, prostitution, and trafficking small amounts of
narcotics. Group members have been known to carry weapons and are becoming
increasingly violent.

This group does not appear to have any clear cut, well defined structure, though its
members appear to have formed networks and cooperate with each other in their
criminal endeavors.

Odessa Mafia - The Odessa Mafia is considered the dominant Russian organized
crime group in the United States. This group established itself in the Brighton Beach
area of New York City between 1975 to 1981. In the early 1980s the Odessa Mafia
sent two sub-groups to San Francisco and Los Angeles with their leadership
remaining in Brighton Beach. The San Francisco Bay Area Odessa Mafia group,
unlike their southern counterpart, appear to be highly structured and well
organized.

Secrecy surrounds their activities and the language barrier creates additional
problems for law enforcement authorities. This has resulted in very liftle information
concerning the hierarchy, the scope of their operations, and the number of
members. This crime group is believed to be involved in extortion, money
laundering, fraud, loan sharking, and homicide.

Armenian Organized Crime Groups - The Hollywood area of Los Angeles and the city
of Glendale are the focal points for Armenian organized crime activity. This area has
the largest Armenian population outside of the Republic of Armenia.

According to law enforcement sources, several Armenian organized crime groups

are becoming well organized with a structured hierarchy. There are in excess of 450
members and associates of these groups. These crime groups are involved in
extortion, fuel frauds, credit card fraud, murder, kidnap, and narcotics trafficking.
One group is believed to have approximately 150-200 members. Several members
of this organized crime group were convicted in 1994 in Los Angeles of attempted
murder, kidnaping, and extortion. This group is believed to be responsible for
extorting a number of victims in the Armenian community.

Russian Organized Criminal Activities in California

Back to Table of Contents
11 National Drug Intelligence Center, October 1993 back

12 The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was established by the U.S.
Department of Treasury in April 1990 as a multi-agency, multi-source financial
intelligence and analytical network. back

13 Washington, D.C. Times, August 13,1993 back

1. Home

2. China

3. Government, Military, Crime - Justice and Crime

TRIADS AND ORGANIZED CRIME IN CHINA

TRIADS AND ORGANIZED CRIME IN CHINA

Triads

History of Triads

Triads in Hong Kong and China

Triads, Stanley Ho and Macau

Triad Members

Triad Crime

Triad Violence
 Triad Violence in Macau and Hong Kong

Triads and Communists

Wan "Broken Tooth" Huok-koi

Yip Kai-Foon and Zhang Jun

Cheung "Big Spender" Tze-Keung

Big Spender Kidnapping

Big Spender's Luck Runs Out

Prosecuting Triad Members

Triads and Prison

Hong Kong Films and the Triads

Triads in Other Countries

Chinese Gangs in Japan

Crimes by Chinese Gangs in Japan

Future of the Triads

Organized Crime and Communist Party Officials in China

Fighting Organized Crime

TRIADS AND ORGANIZED CRIME IN CHINA

Triad Members in video game
Grand Theft AutoCriminal gangs are found throughout China but are most active in Shanghai, Tianjin,
Shenyang and Guangzhou as well as Hong Kong. The number of people involved in organized crime
on the mainland has risen from around 100,000 in 1986 to around 1.5 million in 2000. New members
are often recruited among the 120-million-strong "floating population" of migrant workers.
Triads are the most well-known organized crime group in China, Hong Kong and Macao. In addition
to them are other large organized crime gangs. The Big Circles is a loose alliance of criminal gangs
founded by former Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution. Their individual names refer to the
detention centers where they were "re-educated." They are active in snakehead human trafficking
and other criminal operations.

Organized crime gangs are known as black societies." The private intelligence firm Stratfor said
that, unlike in Russia and Italy, organized crime was extremely localized." Many criminals work in
small, loosely-knit gangs that are involved in armed robbery, racketeering, smuggling, narcotics
trafficking, prostitution, gambling and even contract murder. When groups began to outgrow their
local area, the government cracked down with harsh penalties.

According to the judicial interpretation of the Supreme People's Court, organizations with
characteristics of a criminal syndicate have the following characteristics: (1) a highly structured
organization with a leadership, basically stable membership, and relatively strict discipline; (2)
pursues economic benefit through illegal activities and possesses a certain economic strength; (3)
seeks to shield itself through bribes and threats; (4) its criminal activities bring serious harm to
economic and social order. [Source: the lawyer Zhou Litai, journalist Wu Wei, Beijing News,
Danwei.org, October 18, 2009]
Triad symbolOrganized crime is growing in China, thanks to factors including economic liberalization,
increasing migration, growing inequality and official corruption. People trafficking, drug smuggling,
illegal gambling and extortion are all lucrative. Gang-related crimes have become a threat to social
stability and the economy," a Public Security Bureau official told China Daily last year. Murder, rape,
robbery, kidnapping, assault .". they dare do anything." One indication of their presence and power in
China is the increasing number of bound and gagged bodies that are pulled from the Yellow River
and other Chinese waterways.
One of Henan Province's worst gangs roamed the countryside unchecked for 13 months, robbing
farmhouses and killing 76 people. Seven members of the gang, including its leader Peng Miaoji, who
personally cut the throat of 40 victims, were captured and executed in December 1999.

Some gangs have close relations with the police and are even run by the police. In March 2007, 10
members of a police-run gang in Inner Mongolia were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for
robbery, rape, gambling and bribery. The gang had been active for more than 10 years.

See Hainan Island

Good Websites and Sources: Triad Blog Report illuminatedlantern.com ; American Chinatown
Gangstersfweekly.com ; Controlling Triads in Hong Kong Report in Hong Kong
Journal hkjournal.org Organized Crime Report from the late 1990s by the University of Hong
Kong crime.hku.hk ; Triad and Organized Crime Books and Sources orgcrime.tripod.com ; Organized
Crime Bibliography hua.umf.maine.edu On Crime in China: 2005 Statistics danwei.org ; China
Crime News einnews.com/china ; 2009 Report by Overseas Security Advisory
Council osac.gov/Reports Travel Warnings U.S. State Department
Advisories:Travel.State.gov British travel warnings: fco.gov.uk . Australian travel
warnings: dfat.gov.au/travel . Travel Advise Web Sites : Lonely Planet Lonely Planet Lonely Planet's
Thorn Tree Thorn Tree
Links in this Website: CRIME IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; TRIADS AND ORGANIZED
CRIME IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; POLICE IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ;
JUSTICE SYSTEM IN CHINA Factsanddetails.com/China ; EXECUTIONS AND PRISONS IN
CHINAFactsanddetails.com/China

Triads

Triads are family-run organized crime gangs. They are sometimes refereed to as the Chinese Mafia
or, among mainland Chinese, as "black societies." The Triads are active in China, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the Chinatowns in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and elsewhere.
Chinese Triad societies control Chinese organized crime. They are some of the world's largest crime
organizations. They are believed to have more than 250,000 members, with 100,000 in Hong Kong
alone.

The term "Triad" is relatively modern English term used to describe the triangular symbols found on
flags and banners used by the Hung clan, also known as the Heaven and Earth Society. The bosses
of the Triads are called "dragonheads."

The Triads are believed to control an empire worth many billions of dollars. The largest and most
powerful Triad, Sun Yee On, is believed to have 40,000 members. The unnamed "Dragon Head" of
Kong Sun Yee On, was named on Asiaweek's list of the 50 most powerful people in Asia.

Sun Yee On is believed to be particularly well connected with the Hong Kong tycoons and
Communist party elite. One high-level Communist official even referred to them as "patriotic." The
second and third largest Triads respectively are Who Sing Who and 14K (14 stands for the road
number of a former headquarters and K stands for Kowloon).
Book: The Dragon Syndicates by Martin Booth (Carroll and Graf, 1999)

History of Triads

1920s Shanghai gangster

Yue ShengThe roots of the Triads are found in centuries-old secret societies that date back to 1000
B.C., when peasants were often preyed on by evil leaders and protected themselves by forming "self
help" groups. According to legend the first Triads were founded by Chinese monks committed to
fighting injustices. Over time these groups, it is said, became so politically powerful they were able to
prop up or bring down emperors at their whim.
The Triads developed out of the 18th century Hung Society and often worked with foreign traders to
bring opium into China. In the 19th century, they operated as secret societies opposed to the harsh
rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty, regarded by many ethnic Han Chinese as Barbarian outsiders, and
aimed to replace them the old Ming dynasty. Some historians believe the Triads may have played a
role in the toppling of the last emperor in 1911.

The Triads thrived in the warlord era in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, particularly in free-wheeling
Shanghai, where at its height the Shanghai-based Green Gang had 100,000 members and had
connections with Chiang Kai Chek and assaulted journalists who critiized the Kuomintang.

One of Shanghai's most notorious figures was Shanghai Du Yuesheng ("Big-Eared Du"), a former
sweet-potato vendor who started his life of crime as a policeman collecting protection money from
local opium traders. As the head of the gang that controlled Shanghai opium trade he reportedly
funneled over $20 million a year to French authorities who allowed him to run his operation
unhindered in the French Concession. By the 1930s, Du had become so influential that Chiang Kai-
shek put him in charge of the "Bureau of Opium Suppression." Never one to be too complacent he
lived in a house with a secret trap door that could be used for a quick getaway.
 Some gangs helped the Kuomintang nationalist fight against the Japanese during World War II;
others became gangs of criminals that raged the Chinese countryside.

After the Communist take over in 1949, Mao was able to quickly break the Triad power in the
mainland. Many Triad members fled to Hong Kong and Taiwan and also to North America and
Europe.

The influence of organized crime is believed to have risen as the Chinese economy slowed.

Triads in Hong Kong and China

Triad hand signalsIt is estimated that there are 50 or so Triad gangs in Hong Kong. The Triads have
been active in Hong Kong almost since its inception. They were engaged in the local opium trade
and helped and were assisted by the corrupt British police force. In 1898, corruption was so
entrenched in Hong Kong that half the police force was dismissed for accepting bribes.
The British cracked down on the Triads in Hong Kong in an aggressive anti-corruption campaign that
began in the 1970s, sharply curtailing the influence of the Triads on the police and the civil service.
The Triads are no longer as powerful in Hong Kong as they once were. In 1997, it was estimated that
only 5 to 10 percent of the "detected crime" in Hong Kong was Triad-related.

After the crackdown in Hong Kong, the Triads moved the bases of their operations across the border
into southern Chinese provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Guanxi and Yunnan, and into Macau.
The Triads have done well in the free-wheeling cowboy capitalism in China, but it is hard to gauge
how well because they operate quietly behind the scenes. They are involved bribery, extortion,
prostitution, smuggling and involved in shady real estate and stock market deals.

Triads, Stanley Ho and Macau

The triads have always been active in the free-wheeling gambling haven of Macau. On the eve of
Macau's handover to China in 1999, a bloody power struggle raged between rival gangs, sending the
murder rate to new heights and scaring the territory's half million residents. Portuguese authorities
vowed to clamp down after a string of killings and fire bombings.

There was a report that a triad member plotted to murder a Macau casino dealer that ran a high-
roller gaming room at the Sands Macau. U.S."based Las Vegas Sands dismissed the allegation. In
March 2010, a former VIP gambling room manager at Ho's flagship Casino Lisboa pleaded guilty to
laundering $450 million from an illegal horse-betting operation through Hong Kong bank accounts.
U.S. investigators are examining Macau's so-called junket operators who paid commissions to bring
high rollers to the VIP gaming rooms.

Macao gangster
"Broken Tooth" Huok-koiSteve Vickers, a former senior Hong Kong police official and now head of the
International Risk Agency, told AP, There are few overt displays of violence anymore. It's largely
been contained, The landscape has also changed quite considerably with new casinos and new
[foreign] players. Macau is certainly not as Wild West as it once was." The New Jersey report, he
said, is overly simplistic and poorly researched.".On the darker peripheries of the gambling business
there are illegal activities such as loan sharking, prostitution and other activities.".That has
historically been the case in Macau and will always be the case."
In March 2010, New Jersey's gaming commission released a previously-confidential report that
alleged that gambling tycoon Stanley Go had links with Macau's triads. The report noted that
numerous governmental and regulatory agencies have referenced Stanley Ho's associations with
criminal enterprises, including organized crime to operate and thrive within his casinos."
 Ho controlled Macau's gaming sector for four decades until it was opened up to foreign competition
in 2002. Ho's Shun Rak Holdings responded to the commission report by saying, There is no
foundation in any suggestion that he is associated with organized crime or triads." A senior police
officer told AP that it is no surprise with the links in that organized crime has traditionally operated in
Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

The New Jersey report told Las-Vegas-based MGM Mirage to cut it's business ties with Ho's
daughter Pansy---after deeming her unsuitable because of her business relationship with her father
at the risk of losing its state gaming license. MGM Mirage responded that it would sell its 50 percent
stake in an Atlantic City casino-resorts so it could hold on to its Macau casino-hotel.

Triad Members

Chinese mafiaTriad members take many forms. In addition to being gangsters, are also respected
judges, civil servants and politicians. Triad members are friendly with Communist elite but have also
helped smuggle pre'democracy activists out of the country. Many gangster members call themselves
Triad members even though they are not really members of Triads.
The Triads are tribal-like organizations that follow a strict Confucian code of ethics in which elders
are respected. Romanticized in Asian films, the Triads have secret signs, exotic code names, and
secret tattoos. Symbols are very important. A whole range of messages can be conveyed through
glances and the way a cigarette is offered. The mystique that surrounds the Triads is arguably
intriguing than that of the Italian Mafia.

New Triad members are initiated with elaborate rituals that can last six days and involves a highly
symbolic ceremony. New candidates often begin the ritual barefoot, and wearing special clothes and
perform things like salutations, special handshakes, ritual dances and Taoist and Buddhist prayers.

The Hung clan welcomes new members with thirty-six 200-year-old initiation oaths. One of them
goes, "I shall not disclose the secrets of the Hung Family, not even to my parents, brothers or wife. I
shall never disclose the secrets for money. I shall die by a swarm of swords if I do so." Ratting on
another Triad member is one of the worst offenses a Triad member can do.

Blood letting and slitting a chicken's throat are still use in some Triad initiation rites. One Triad ritual
ends when the new recruit pledges his allegiance by shedding a few drops of blood into a cup of
wine.

Triad Crime

triads The Triads have traditionally made their money through drug trafficking, loan sharking,
prostitution, smuggling, gunrunning, and extortion and protection rackets. In recent years they have
been moving more into credit card fraud, minibus concessions, call-girl rings, and computer software
and CD pirating.
 Sometimes Triad members are involved in extorting money from rich businessmen and contract
murders. Most members are small time crooks who sell drugs and pornography on streets or
involved in protection rackets or theft rings. Between 1945 and 2000, more than 700,000 reported
Triad members have been arrested for a variety of crimes.

Petty criminal offenses committed by the Triads were on the rise in the mainland and in Hong Kong
in the late 1990s. Officials blame high unemployment rates and a lack of job opportunities for the rise
in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Triads have forged a large number of credit cards using information stolen from
cardholders in Canada, the United States and Europe by installing recorders on credit card terminals
at stores and restaurants. In some cases store clerks were bribed to get the information.

Triad Violence
Turf battles over gambling and prostitution between different Triads are fairly common. The signature
Triad instrument of torture, punishment and execution is the kitchen meat cleaver. The bodies of
Triad victims are sometimes horribly mutilated. Severed limbs are sometimes used as a warning.
Court record give accounts of numerous victims of chop attacks.

Members of the Big Circle Triad allegedly include former commandos of the People's Liberation
Army armed with AK-47 assault rifles and Red Star pistols.

In one highly publicized case involving alleged Triad violence, gangsters in business suits entered
the office of Leung Tin Wai, the publisher of a feisty magazine called the Surprise Weekly, saying
they wanted to talk about doing some printing work. Moments later Leung's arm and his thumbs were
chopped off with a meat cleaver. No one is sure who ordered the attack but it came on the eve of a
lengthy article about organized crime printed by the magazine."

Newspaper editor Jimmy Lai, who had a firebomb tossed in his yard by Triad members, told the New
York Times: "I think they're very powerful---no doubt. But if they threaten me, they won't kill me. If
they want to kill me, they won't threaten me."

Triad Violence in Macau and Hong Kong

triads part 2In Macau, the Triads brazenly killed three civil servants and a prison guard. and bombed
the car of a police chief, who narrowly escaped being killed.
In May 1997, there was a gangland-style execution in which three people were riddled with bullets
while they sat in a car in the middle of the day in downtown Macau. One of the victims was Sek
Weng-cheog, believed to be the right-hand man of "Broken Tooth Koi," the suspected dragon head of
14K, Macau's largest and most notorious Triad. The murders were believed to be part of a gang war
between rival Triads, 14K and smaller Soi Fong, or Water Room Triad.

A total of 14 people were killed in Macau in the first half of 1997, compared to 21 in 1996. Only one
of the cases was solved. Police believe that the majority of the murders were related to the Triad war
and that after the slaying the murderers slipped across the border into the neighboring mainland
Chinese city of Zhuhai. Many of the slayings were execution-style hits reminiscent of gangland killing
in Chicago in the 1920s.

In January, 1997, 15 people were killed in fire in Hong Kong believed to be have been started by
members of Sun Yee On, Hong Kong's largest Triad, who in a turf battle with Who Sing Who, the
second largest Triad.

In January, 1997, 15 people were killed in fire believed to be have been started by members of Sun
Yee On, Hong Kong's largest Triad, who in a turf battle with Who Sing Who, the second largest. The
turf warfare in Macau is believed to have been the result of declining revenues and battles over a
pieces of the action in the gambling industry.

On the eve of Macau's handover to China in 1999, a bloody power struggle raged between rival
gangs, sending the murder rate to new heights and scaring the territory's half million residents.
Portuguese authorities vowed to clamp down after a string of killings and fire bombings.

In August 2009, a senior triad member---41-year-old Lee Tai-hung was knocked down by a car and
hacked to death by three knifemen outside the five-star Shangri-la Hotel in Hong Kong . Lee was
known as the Baron of Tsim Sha Tsui East," an area of Kowloon known for its bars, saunas and
hostess clubs. Seventeen men and one woman were arrested in connection with the attack. The
killing was believed to have been part of a long-running feud between Lee's Sun Yee On group and
the Wo Shing Wo gang.

Triads and Communists

Many leaders in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are believed to have met with representatives of the
Triads and received some help from them. Referring to the Triads, Deng Xiaoping once said, "there
are many good guys among them." Before the handover, Beijing officials reportedly met with the
Triad heads and said they wanted a "peaceful transition."

Triad leaders met with Communist officials before the singing of the 1984 Hong Kong handover
agreement. In return for assisting the Communist in a smooth transition, the Triad leaders were told
that Communism would turn a blind eye to its illegal activities.

Beijing especially wanted the support of the powerful Sun Yee On gang traditionally had ties with the
nationalist in Taiwan.

The Triads also played a crucial rile in Operation Yellowbird, a network that help smuggle pro-
democracy dissidents out of China after Tiananmen Square in 1989. No is sure whether the Triads
were involved in the operation simply for the money or out of concern for the pro-democracy
movement.

Wan "Broken Tooth" Huok-koi

 For a while the most well known mobster in Hong Kong and Macau's was
Wan "Broken Tooth" Huok-koi, the leader of the 14K Triad. Short and known as a flashy dresser, he
strutted in dark striped suits, cream-colored shoes and a diamond ring. He liked to spend all night in
casinos and often didn't get out of bed until late in afternoon." He turned 43 in 1998, when he was at
the peak of his power, and spent several thousand dollars to get his teeth capped.

Broken Tooth Koi kept an iron grip on a large part of Macau's underworld. He made most of his
money in the late 1990s by controlling the VIP suites for high-rollers at Macau's casinos like the one
at the Hotel Lisboa. He liked to gamble himself, once losing $200,000 in 30 minutes playing
baccarat. In 1997 he was barred from Macau's casinos for "breaking every rule you can think of,"
including throwing chairs and ashtrays when he lost bets.

An estimated 10,000 gangsters regarded Broken Tooth as their boss and referred to him as "Big
Brother." Wan financed a gangster film about his life called Casino and even promoted it with
Hollywood-style publicity campaign. Wan was arrested in May 1998, hours after a homemade bomb
destroyed a car belonging to the Macau's police chief. He was reportedly arrested while watching a
U.S. gangster film. He was later given a 15 year prison sentence. Several of his top lieutenants were
also jailed.

Broken Tooth continued to run the 14K Triad from prison through cell phone and giving orders
through his brother who was also imprisoned. He also reportedly had frequent lady visitors to his
cell. One guard who tried to bring a little discipline to the prison was gunned down outside a coffee
shop on his day off. [Source: Mahlon Meyer, Newsweek, May 17, 1999]

Yip Kai-Foon and Zhang Jun

Yip Kai-foon, a professionally-trained gunman, was another well-known Hong Kong gangster. He
lead a small gang notorious for robbing jewelry stores and kidnaping rich businessmen, sometimes
exacting huge ransoms. He ran a crime network in Hong Kong and Gunagdong Province.

Yip was captured in 1985 but he escaped from prison four years later after pretending that he had a
stomach ailment. In 1993, he pulled off one of Hong Kong's most spectacular crimes. After robbing a
jewelry store, he held off police by firing an AK-47 over their heads on busy Nathan Road.

In 1996 and 1997, Yip's gang kidnapped the sons of two of Hong Kong's richest and most powerful
businessmen and demanded multimillion dollar ransoms. In 1997, Yip was shot three times by a
rookie policeman and paralyzed. Two years later he was sentenced to 40 years in prison in a
sensational trial. Now he is in wheelchair in a cell in maximum-security Stanley Prison.

Zhang Jun lead a gang that killed more than 30 people and committed 17 robberies in five provinces
between 1994 and 2000. A big fan of Hong Kong gangster films, he reportedly copied many classic
cinematic Triad moves such as forcing lieutenants and mistress to show their loyalty by killing people
at his whim. Other famous Macau-based gangsters include: Five Fingers Fung and Two-Nostrils Lee.

Cheung "Big Spender" Tze-Keung

Cheung "Big Spender" Tze-Keung was perhaps Hong Kong's most notorious gangster in the 1990s.
A slight man with a protruding forehead, he was small-time crook until he hit it big in 1991 when he
and his gang hijacked an armored truck carrying $20 million to the airport. He earned his nickname
with his purchases of dozens of dozens of top-of-the-line sport cars, including a shocking yellow
Lamborghini. [Source: Dorinda Elliot and Lynette Clemetson, Newsweek, April 6, 1998]

Cheung was arrested for the armored car robbery and sentenced to 18 years but he got out after
three years on a technicality. While in jail he made friends with loan sharks who reportedly chained
people inside their houses and burned them if they didn't pay their debts. Cheung held such a
grudge against the police for his experience in jail, he rammed a bulldozer into a prison guardhouse
and firebombed the house of Hong Kong's Secretary of Security.

Cheung was the son of a poor laborer. Before he became a big time gangster he ran some gambling
dens in Hong Kong and made a living as a professional gambler. After hitting the big time he traveled
the world playing games of chance. He frequently flew to South Africa and reportedly once won $2
million in a single night in the Philippines.

On Cheung, Broken Tooth Wan aid, "He's a genius. He thinks I'm a genius, and I think he's a
genius." Once the two men played baccarat together and Broke Tooth lost more than US$1 million. "I
was really mad, I put the cards in my pocket and went home to bed. That way, I don't have to kill him
or do anything to him, because I wasn't really the loser."

Cheung's gang once smuggled 1,500 pounds of explosives from Guangdong into the Hong Kong.
He worked with Yip on several crimes and developed a plan to kidnap high-profile Hong Kong
politician Anson Chan. In a crime that went wrong, his gang accidently killed a businessman
kidnapped in Shenzhen by tying tape so tightly around his mouth he suffocated to death during a two
hour ride from Shenzhen to Guangzhou.

Big Spender Kidnapping

In the 1990s, Cheung and his gang abducted two of Hong Kong's richest tycoons---Walter Kwok,
one of the world's richest property developers, and Victor Li, the son of billionaire Li Ka-shing---and
held them for ransom of $210 million.
 Although Kwok refuses to discuss the matter and claims it never happened, Newsweek reported
that his car was forced off the road by kidnappers and he was taken away. He returned in less than
24 hours after has family paid the ransom of $80 million.

A similar scenario happened to Li. He was taken away after his purple limousine was forced off the
road and reportedly kept in a refrigerator with air holes drilled in it. A ransom of $125 million ($1
billion Hong Kong dollars) was paid to free him. Cheung reportedly kept $50 million of the ransom for
himself. The remaining $75 million was split among his accomplices. Some of Big Spenders
gambling loses were regarded as methods to launder his money.

Big Spender's Luck Runs Out

One Hong Kong police official told Newsweek, Cheung's goal was to hold people in such a state of
terror that all he had to do was threaten you over the phone and you would pay him big money." After
an intensive man hunt, utilizing hundreds of police, Cheung and 30 members of his gang including
two in Thailand were captured.

Cheung was arrested in mainland China. Usually, when a criminal who is wanted on charges in
Hong Kong is caught in the mainland, Hong Kong police want him back. But that was not the case
with Big Spender. Worried that he might get off again in Hong Kong and well aware of the harsh
punishments that awaited him in China, Hong Kong refused to try to get him back.

In December 1998, Cheung and several members of his gang were found guilty of smuggling
explosives and kidnapping, sentenced to death and executed within hours. It was the first time that a
Hong Kong resident had been executed under Chinese law. China has a death penalty but Hong
Kong doesnt. Later 32 of Big Spenders "accomplices"---18 Hong Kong residents and 14 from the
mainland---were rounded by Chinese police. During their arrest, police seized US$5 million, 11
luxury cars and cache of weapons and explosives. Afterwards one police official said, "All the lone
gangsters are out of the scene now. The Big Spender case has had the effect of scaring everyone
else."

Prosecuting Triad Members

gangsters impersonate policeThe police have used paid informers and undercover police to arrest Triad
members. In 1994, the government passed laws which allowed police to expropriate the legitimate
financial assets of Triad members. Even so prosecutors have difficulty nailing Triad members for big
crimes partly because of human rights laws in Hong Kong that prevent entrapment. Often when
members are arrested they are convicted of relatively mall crimes and serve short prison sentences.
On the mainland, the Triads often buy protection from the police, the Communist party and
government officials but face harsher punishments if they can not buy their safety. See Big Spender.

In 2000, the Shanghai People's Court concluded its first big Triad trail since the 1940s, two leaders
were sentenced to death but got off with two-year suspension because the crimes they were
prosecuted for---blackmailing bar girls and karaoke hostesses)---were relatively minor.
 In October 2009, a court in Chongqing sentenced six organized crime member to death on charges
of murder assault and extortion. The crime group was involve in gambling, prostitution and
corruption.

Triads and Prison

Many convicted Triad members end up at Macau's Central Prison, situated on a small island one
miles off the coast. It is surrounded by a 20 foot wall and is notorious for its terrible conditions.
Violence is common and guards often let the prisoners beat themselves silly and make little effort to
intervene.

After a massive anti-crime campaign in 1998, 90 percent of 720 inmates at Central Prison were
Triad members. The 14K Triad ran the prison. Members of Triad were kept together in one area to
"keep them away from rival Triads." They came and went from their cells as they pleased, reportedly
gaining privileges by paying off guards. Two prisoners were killed and several were severely beaten
while they were in charge.

See Broken Tooth, Above

Hong Kong Films and the Triads

Hong Kong film The Replacement KillersMobsters have traditionally had strong ties with the Hong Kong
film industry. Local gangs and triads often demand protection money from film crews to shoot on
Hong Kong's streets. Actors who turn down film offers from the triads and directors that have refused
to cast triad-supported actors have received death threats and visits from armed gangsters. There
have also been reports of harassment and extortion and even rapes and kidnaps. In 1992, two
prominent producers were murdered.
One Hong Kong detective told the Los Angeles Times that most gangsters got into the film industry
to make a quick buck but some took the film industry seriously. Charles Heung, a former actor and
son on the leader of the powerful Sun Yee On triad, became president of one of Hong Kong's largest
entertainment companies. Heung has been praised in the filmmaking industry as being "one of the
good gangsters." The Director Wong Kar-wai even went as far as saying, "It's better to deal with a
godfather than an accountant."
 The film industry fought back against the triads by calling in police to protect their film sets and
arrest people demanding protection money. The triads have been less active in films since 1994,
when the government passed laws which allowed police to expropriate the legitimate financial assets
of triad members. Starting around that time the Triads began killing the Hong Kong film industry
through intensive production of pirated videos, VDCs and DVDs.

Triads in Other Countries

Chinese gangs in JapanThe yakuza in Japan has collaborated with triads to smuggle immigrants, sell
doctored passports and engage in credit card fraud. Triads have forged a large number of credit
cards using information stolen from cardholder in Canada, the United States and Europe by installing
recorders on credit card terminals at stores and restaurants. In some cases store clerks were bribed
to get the information.
Before World War II most heroin was produced in laboratories in Shanghai and Tianjin China and
production and distribution there was largely overseen by Chinese triads. World War II and the
Communist takeover of China ended heroin production in China. After World War II the Mafia took
advantage of a weak government in Italy and deal struck between Mafia leader Lucky Luciano and
American military intelligence to set up heroin labs in Sicily. Chinese gangs are still believed to be
major players in the world narcotics trade, especially with herioin coming out of the Golden Traingle
in Southeast Asia, but the extent of the involvement is unknown.

Organized crime groups from China are active in the United States. In Chinatowns in America and
Europe organized crimes is usually associated with "Tongs,' community groups associated with the
Chinese triads that were created in the early 20th century to help overthrow the Qing dynasty.

Chinese Gangs in Japan

The influence of foreign organized crime groups is growing in Japan. A new Chinese gang known as
the Jinshan Group has targeted Chinese-run restaurants and shops around JR Ikebukuro Station in
Tokyo. Attention was brought to these gangs after a karaoke operator was severely beaten by a chair
by men of Chinese descent who had just arrived in Japan. The operator reportedly failed to pay
50,000 a month protection money. The Jinshan group has about 30 members

One Chinese gang, the Dawei Group, is active in Ueno and Kinshicho in Sumida ward, Tokyo. It
reportedly has 200 members who collect 30,000 to 50,000 a month protection money from shops
and restaurants operated by Chinese but also sells drugs and is involved in robberies. Many of the
members are children or grandchildren of Japanese left behind in northwestern China in the closing
days of World War II and experienced adjustment problems when they came to Japan. Some of
those formed the Dragons," a group of gangsters linked with a number of robberies in the late
1980s.

Chinese gangs are starting to occupy turf long held by the yakuza. One yakuza member told the
New York Times, "Our biggest problem is the rise of the Chinese mafia. The Chinese gangs are
taking business from us in every area---in prostitution, in gambling, in fencing stolen goods.".The
Chinese are very, very good at business."

Chinese gangs are regarded as more ruthless and clever than the yakuza. The yakuza member
complained, "The difference between us is that Japanese yakuza think of long-term relationships, but
the Chinese mafia thinks just of the short term. Their only goal is money, money, money.".For
Japanese yakuza, the most important thing is staying alive, and making money is second. But for the
Chinese gangsters, the first thing is money. The second is money. And the third thing is money."

Crimes by Chinese Gangs in Japan

Chinese gangs have moved aggressively into forging passports and making fake magnetic-strip
cards that allow people to win prizes at pachinko parlors. They reportedly charge only $2,700 for a
contract killing. In Kabukicho in Tokyo many of the prostitutes and sex workers are Chinese who
work for Chinese gangs rather the yakuza.

The Hong Kong triads have forged a large number of credit cards using information stolen from
cardholders in Canada, the United States and Europe by installing recorders on credit card terminals
at stores and restaurants. In some cases store clerks have been bribed to get the information.

Many Chinese who have been arrested and deported for crimes return within six months using false
passports.

Future of the Triads

When asked what was going to happen to the Triads, one crime officials told UPI, "Whilst almost
certainly some criminals will move overseas, the majority most definitely will not. There are various
reasons: some will be unable to severe family ties, some will lack the financial support required to
resettle."

The Triads are believed have set up allegiances with organized crimes gangs in the former Soviet
Union, developed "logic bombs," encrypted algorithms that prevent outsiders from accessing their
computer systems.

Hong Kong drug syndicates are reportedly being out muscled by other gangs.

Organized Crime and Communist Party Officials in China

Chinese mafia Chen Tianben, professor of public security at the Chinese People's Public Security
University, said organized crime was a problem in many Chinese cities, with some senior officials
offering a protective umbrella." [Source: Tania Branigan The Guardian (August 19, 2009]
In cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the lack of political accountability, judicial independence and
media scrutiny have created ripe conditions for mobsters to collude with corrupt officials in setting up
illegal businesses and extorting money. [Source: Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, October 21, 2009]
 Police often paid off to protect gangsters. We have to pay off the gangsters and the police," a club
manager in Shanghai told the Guardian. There are two brothers in the city who always dine
together. One is a cop, one is a mob leader. These people are our customers, but they are very
dangerous." [Ibid]

Party bosses all over China could emulate Chongqing Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai---who
launched a major crackdown on crime in his city (See Below)---but don't because most of them
choose to ignore the status quo of corruption and collusion.

Fighting Organized Crime

Chinese gangs in Japan According to official figures released last month by an agency working under
the Communist Party's Central Committee, police have eliminated 1,221 gangs since 2006 and
arrested more than 87,300 suspects. [Source: Tania Branigan, The Guardian, August 19, 2009]
Chen warned that anti-crime drives were a superficial solution, adding that other groups would form
elsewhere. We need to solve the deeper problems; only by carrying out proper reforms to improve
our system can we solve the problem at its root. For example, some officials believe their powers
override the rule of law." he said. [Ibid]

Yang Shukuan, a gun-toting Chinese officials and crime gang leader who owned two Ferraris and
liked to drive around in an armored personnel carrier, was given life in jail for illegal weapons
possession and fraud in the northern city of Tangshan in 2008. According to the China Daily, Yang
and other nag members had dominated the area in which they lived bullying locals and causing
untold damage to the local economy."

In December 2008, the Chinese government announced the creation of a new special unit aimed at
cracking down on gun-related crimes and organized crime such as organized prostitution, gambling,
drug production and trafficking.

See Crime Fighting Efforts, Police

Image Sources: Columbia University, Tales of Old Shanghai website and various websites and blogs,
You Tube

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, National
Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton's
Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

2008 Jeffrey Hays

Last updated April 2012

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