The Triads as Business

by Chu; Yiu-kong

• ISBN13: 9780415170925
• ISBN10: 0415170923
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-02-23
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

There is no doubt that the triads have become recognized as a sophisticated and international criminal force and, following the handover of Hong Kong to China, there have been increasing fears that their influence will spread to the West through emigration. This book investigates the reality behind the myth with a study of the Hong Kong triads, generally regarded as the headquarters of triad societies throughout the world. Yiu Kong Chu examines their origins, their organized extortion from legitimate businesses large and small, and their more recent moves into illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and gambling.Contrary to the popular belief that Hong Kong triads are replacing the Italian Mafia as the most powerful criminal organization in the world, this book argues that Hong Kong triads may be declining, as other ethnic Chinese crime gangs emerge as powerful crime groups in Western societies.Based on interviews with ex triad members and victims of the triads, police from Hong Kong, mainland China and Europe, as well as documentary evidence Triads as Business gives a vivid and compelling picture of the triads as part of a wider society.

Table of Contents

List of figures and tables	vii
Foreword	viii
Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
List of newspaper and journal abbreviations	xiv
Triads, business, and markets	1	(8)
PART I The triads	9	(32)
Origins	11	(11)
Organisation	22	(19)
PART II Legal markets	41	(40)
Protection against extortionists	43	(10)
Protection against competitors: traditional operations	53	(13)
Protection against competitors: recent operations	66	(11)
Dispute settlement	77	(4)
PART III Illegal markets	81	(26)
Drug dealing	83	(5)
Gambling	88	(11)
Prostitution	99	(8)
PART IV International markets	107	(14)
Drug trafficking	109	(6)
Human smuggling	115	(6)
PART V Implications and reflections	121	(21)
Are triads extortionists, entrepreneurs, or protectors?	123	(6)
International triad movement: emigration or reversion?	129	(4)
New directions in the study of triads	133	(9)
Appendix 1: Data sources	142	(3)
Appendix 2: The formation of the Tiandihui	145	(2)
Appendix 3: The 14K	147	(2)
Appendix 4: Translation of a triad expulsion order	149	(1)
Appendix 5: The Big Circle Boys	150	(3)
Appendix 6: An actress's experience with triads	153	(2)
Bibliography	155	(7)
Index	162