Organised crime in Hong Kong

Organised crime in Hong Kong is not as prevalent as in its Chinese mainland neighbour, but it does exist. Hong Kong is generally known as one of the safest cities in the world with a crime rate at roughly the same level as Singapore and lower than New York, London and Tokyo.

The name most associated with organised crime within Hong Kong is the many branches of Chinese underground society and organizations known as the Triads.

Triad gang activities are mainly territorial and commonly involve the following types of offences:

• Extortion and protection racketeering of shops, small business, hawkers, construction sites, car valet services, and places of public entertainment such as bars, billiard halls etc.;
• Monopolising control of non-franchised public transport routes;
• Monopolising control of decoration companies operating in newly built public housing estates;
• Street-level dangerous drug trafficking;
• Illegal gambling, and prostitution and pornography.

Although one of the most famous criminal organizations in the region, the Triads are not the only source of organized crime in Hong Kong.

Smuggling (both goods and people), counterfeit goods, corruption and prostitution syndicates are all the result of organized groups operating in the territory. Generally organized crime groups in Hong Kong keep a low profile and many of its most profitable activities do not attract high levels of public outrage e.g. illegal gambling and copyright piracy.

As organized crime does not necessarily equate with street crime, it has been said that Hong Kong society can be lulled into a false sense of security. Without high levels of street crime and no great numbers of Mafia-style organized crime syndicates, it has been suggested that the people of Hong Kong, believe that their society is, in law and order terms, healthy and clean, although this may not be the case.

References

• McWalters, Ian (2000). "The Link Between Organised Crime and Corruption: A Hong Kong Perspective". International Anti-Corruption Conference. Archived from the original on 2005-11-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20051115122030/http://www.transparency.org/iacc/9th_iacc/papers/day4/ws5/d4ws5_imcwalters.html. 
• Broadhurst, Roderic (2000). "Crime Trends in Hong Kong". University of Hong Kong. http://www.crime.hku.hk/rb-crimetrends.htm.