Hong Kong Triad Criminal Organization

Hong Kong Triad Criminal Organization
Student's Name
Institutional Affiliation
HONG KONG TRIAD CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION
The presence of criminal organizations in contemporary societies is not surprising. Criminal organizations often reflect a clash of interests well understood and defined under socio-economic and political contexts. It is puzzling to note that triad society was established in the seventeenth century in China with a robust sense of patriotism and emphasis on great human principles such as loyalty, righteousness, secrecy, and brotherhood, but it progressively transformed into an underground criminal society. More often, criminal organizations are organized syndicates dealing in illegal activities. Hong Kong triad criminal’s organizations constitute such groups where their emergence is quite historical, transformative, and intricately interconnected with the socio-economic and political environment. This paper demonstrates that the Hong Kong Triad crime syndicate is complex, socio-economically, and politically entrenched. The article argues that the Hong Kong Triad crime syndicate has proliferated over time due to its secrecy, members rituals, affiliation to political cycles, and economic empowerment gained from business and illicit trade. The paper postulates that triad societies have survived since their inceptions due to ‘triadization”, ' which refers to incorporating youth gangs into triad subcultures and values, which is achieved via gang structures, routine activities and ceremonies, businesses, gaining formality and legitimacy, and gang norms and controls, which will be examined below.
CASE
Hong Kong Triad Criminal Organization is historically, politically, and socio-economically contextualized. Triads are historically rooted secret societies interested in trading, protecting territory, business, and sometimes illegal activities. Triad criminal syndicates commonly operate and exist in Greater China and amongst overseas Chinese gangs. The triad gangs have left their imprints in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. They also have featured in overseas regions, including Europe, Japan, Latin America, and Russia, among others! The expansion of triad criminal societies into foreign states has elicited security and law enforcement concerns in countries such as Australia, U.S, and Canada (Zhang & Chin, 2002). These triad crime groups are gaining much attention over recent decades in transnational criminal activities, including money laundering, extortion, immigrant smuggling, gambling, heroin trafficking, and counterfeit trading (Zhang & Chin, 2002). They started as a political movement outfit later widened their portfolios of activities from eighteen century to the 21st century. Triad criminal societies are pure outfits driven by specific agender and have unique features that enhance the members' togetherness, being underpinned by rituals, mutuality, and particular traditions and ceremonies during membership recruitment.
What are the Hong Kong triads? The contemporary understanding of “triads” generally refers to Hong Kong-based criminal groups (Kwok & Lo, 2013). The triad represents secret societies in Qing-dynasty China, contemporary Chinese crim...