Chinese triads. The most organized secret societies in the world. Chinese triads: criminals with ancient history Modern Chinese triads

For all their secrecy, the triads are the oldest criminal organization in the world - they are already more than 2,500 years old: the first mentions of them appeared in Chinese chronicles during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC). But they actually began to be called triads much later.

The evolution of triads: from the national liberation movement to a criminal community

The first reliable information about the triads dates back to 1644, when the last emperor of the Ming dynasty was overthrown and power passed to the Manchu Qing dynasty. A group of 133 Buddhist monks who swore a blood oath to restore the Ming Dynasty fought a guerrilla war against the Manchu conquerors for many years, but were never successful. In 1674, all but five of the fighters were captured and brutally executed, and the monastery that served as their base was destroyed.

These five surviving monks (their members of the triads are called the founding fathers or the Five Ancestors, and their names are always borne by the five main leaders in any of its links) created a secret society whose goal was to overthrow the Manchus. The motto “Overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming” (Fan Qing, Fu Ming) is still solemnly pronounced at triad meetings as a tribute to tradition, although it has long lost all meaning.

A triangle was chosen as the emblem of the organization created by five monks, the sides of which symbolized heaven, earth and man - the main elements of the Chinese universe. But this was not the only reason for choosing the triangle. Chinese culture has a highly developed numerological tradition and the number 3 is believed to have special properties especially when it comes to criminal activities. (For example, in extortion, the rate is often calculated based on three.) Although the five surviving monks, known today as the Five Ancestors, gave their organization the name "Hong Mun" (this name is accepted in Russian historiography, although in the original it is "Hong Men") , or the society of Earth and Heaven (Tiandihui), in the West it is better known in connection with the mentioned symbol. Thus, the term "triad" is used almost exclusively by Westerners. The indigenous Chinese usually call this organization "Heishehui" - the black society.

Although Hong Moon failed to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, the organization existed for many years. Having united with the previously created “White Lotus”, she constantly disturbed the imperial forces and repeatedly pushed the population to revolt. According to the principles of Buddhism, members of the organization were supposed to respect the rights and share the aspirations of the peasants; this tactic was used with great success almost 300 years later by the communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong. At the same time, the thesis that “armies protect the emperor, and secret societies protect people."

The triads had power and influence, although they never managed to achieve their original goal - to overthrow the Manchu Qing dynasty, which never enjoyed popular love due to the cruel, repressive nature of the government. The stable positive image of this organization remained until 1842 and the establishment of British rule in Hong Kong. Although the triads remained focused on political and cultural goals, Britain became concerned about their presence, leading to them being declared "incompatible with the maintenance of order" and accused of facilitating crime and harboring criminals. Following the example of the imperialist authorities in China, the British authorities made it a crime not only to actually belong to a triad, but even to intend to join one. Punishment: up to three years in prison. If at this stage the triads did not have obvious criminal goals, this attitude undoubtedly pushed them in that direction.

In 1848, Hong Moon merged with a new secret society that arose in the Canton region - the Warriors of God. Together they organized the Taiping uprisings. Canton was besieged, and the uprising spread to Shanghai and other cities. At this point, the rituals of the triad were still aimed at emphasizing the positive image of the organization. The new state of Taiping Tianguo - the Heavenly State of Great Prosperity - was proclaimed. By then, China had become a semi-colony of Great Britain, the United States, and France, and the triads were the only force offering organized resistance to foreign exploitation and oppression.

But the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 marked the transformation of triads into organizations pursuing exclusively criminal goals. The uprising, named because it was led by the secret society Fist for Justice and Harmony (Yihetuan), was aimed at driving foreigners out of the country through murder and intimidation, primarily targeting settlements and missions located in Beijing and Shanghai. As besieged diplomats and trade representatives turned to their governments for help, eight countries sent expeditionary forces to China.

A combined force of two thousand, which included soldiers from Great Britain, Germany, Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Italy and Austria, under the overall command of British Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, landed in June 1900. Strong resistance from the rebels and the Imperial Chinese forces forced Seymour retreat and call for reinforcements. In August, the number of his forces immediately increased by 20,000 people. After the capture of Tianjin, foreign armies began to fight their way towards Beijing and reached the capital on August 14.

Over the next few months, the invasion force continued to increase. They eventually captured Beijing and rushed into the provinces to pursue the rebels. In February 1901, the Chinese authorities were forced to ban the Yihetuan society, and on September 7 of the same year they signed the “Final (or “Boxer”) Protocol,” which was the official end of the uprising. The country was completely demoralized, the prestige of power was dealt a crushing blow, but the imperial government had to resort to even greater humiliation by allowing foreigners to consolidate their interests and continue to exploit the people and resources of the country. The consequences of the uprising continued to reverberate throughout the 20th century.

From that moment on, it became absolutely clear that the triads would not be able to have any noticeable influence on the formation and implementation of China's national interests. The Boxers, a similar secret society, not only failed to protect the nation, but were defeated, and China's foreign enemies were stationed throughout the country, armed to the teeth and determined to brutally suppress any internal resistance.

And then the activities of secret societies turned inward. Since they were unable to throw off foreign oppression, it means they will have to engage in the exploitation of their fellow citizens, building up their strength and avoiding any influence or threat from non-Chinese forces. True, for some time they maintained an interest in politics. Their most outstanding achievement was supporting Dr. Sun Yat-sen in overthrowing the Manchu Qing dynasty and establishing a republican system of government. Many researchers believe that Sun Yat-sen actively used triads to ensure success; this is a completely reasonable assumption, especially considering that in his youth he, according to numerous testimonies, occupied a fairly prominent place in the triad “Green Gang” - “Society of Three Harmonies.”

By the way, it is worth remembering that the triads, in fact, saved Sun Yat-sen when he, while still a “rebel,” was captured in London by agents of Empress Ci Xi and placed under arrest on the territory of the Chinese embassy. He was expected to be smuggled into China for trial and execution. However, information about this reached the representatives of the triads operating in London, who took an unprecedented step - they openly appealed to the authorities and the press. As a result of the scandal that broke out, the Chinese were forced to release Sun Yat-sen, and he returned to China as a winner a decade later.

Chiang Kai-shek, who replaced Sun Yat-sen as head of the Kuomintang Party, was also able to own experience feel their power. So, one day, during a business visit to Shanghai, his wife was kidnapped. The problem was solved quite quickly - soon one of the leaders of the local triad called him in the presidential room and politely explained that his wife was completely safe, and that he had to pay for safety. Chiang Kai-shek did not bargain, and soon his wife was taken to the hotel. With this incident in mind, Chiang Kai-shek tried to use the power of the triads as a last resort in the war against the communists led by Mao Zedong, but it was too late. After Mao's victory in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers fled to Formosa (Taiwan), and those triad leaders who remained on the mainland were executed. Some still managed to escape to Portuguese-owned Macau and British-occupied Hong Kong, which became a base for triads in the second half of the 20th century. Representing many separate groups (the total number is approximately 1 million 200 thousand people), they now completely control all illegal business in China. In their hands are the supply of drugs, the black market for currency, human trafficking, smuggling of biological resources, underground brothels, arms trafficking, etc. But the basis of the triads’ business is still extortion - monthly “tax inspectors” of the triads come to Chinese traders in China, the USA, Europe and other regions of the world, check documents and take away the 15 percent of profits due to them.

Triads in China...

It is believed that mafia agents have long been embedded in the state apparatus and the police, but at the same time the triads only buy minor officials - they do not have access to the big bosses. And if the mayor of a small town in the province can work for the triad, then, as is commonly believed, she is unable to influence a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Although police officers and minor officials are periodically fired from their jobs for “connections with crime,” the official government does not admit that the triads have agents in its ranks, and representatives of the triads themselves, of course, wisely do not confirm this.

Meanwhile, a study of modern organized crime in the PRC conducted by Chinese scientist Xin Yan suggests that the leaders of “mafia-type organizations” are increasingly infiltrating economic structures and strengthening corruption ties, and crimes in the economic sphere have become more sophisticated. At the same time, cases have become more frequent when triads seize administrative power at the lower level (in villages and hamlets, small towns), including taking on the functions law enforcement.

The leaders of the triads rise to ever higher levels of the hierarchical ladder of the state, becoming deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC) or members of political advisory councils in the provinces. Triads more often interfere in the process associated with official reshuffles of high-ranking officials. Moreover, as noted in Xin Yan's research, some leaders in certain regions of the PRC sometimes themselves asked the leaders of local triod cells to take over lower-level administrative power (for example, village management). Of course, many local bosses turned to the triads with requests for financial assistance, deliberately putting themselves in a dependent position. As the criminal cases studied by Chinese experts show, there are often cases when organized criminal groups - local cells of triads - were created and led by former party and administrative managers, high-ranking employees a number of prosecutors' offices and even current representatives of the NPC, secretaries of party cells and heads of local public security agencies.

Triad structures have recently increasingly tried to “work” under the guise of legally operating firms and enterprises and penetrate into the economic spheres of state activity. Receiving excess profits, the triads established a system for laundering “dirty money”. In China, according to Chinese experts, about 200 billion yuan ($24.7 billion) are laundered annually. Significant sums pass through underground money changers.

Triads are more active in the coastal provinces, and especially in Hong Kong. In their hands is the supply of heroin and opium, the “black market” for currency; transporting prostitutes to brothels; arms trade; providing “cover” for local businessmen. In 2005, the official China News Weekly Review published a publication stating that the connections of the Chinese mafia are not limited to Hong Kong and Macau, but have spread to major industrial centers of the PRC, such as Guangzhou, Tianjin and Shanghai.

Chinese mafia structures keep pace with the progress brought to life by reforms, and widely use all achievements for their own purposes. Given the rapid development of the Internet, the triads organized online sales of pirated audio and video materials and then expanded the scope of criminal Internet trade. The product range now includes drugs, prostitutes, stolen cars, weapons, forged documents and even human organs for transplantation. Despite the fact that the authorities in the PRC are trying to strictly control the Internet by creating an army of more than 30,000 Internet police, the criminal business on the Internet is thriving, and new ones are replacing closed sites.

Triads react quite clearly to changes in market trends and consumer preferences. In the mid-2000s, during a period of rapid growth in fuel demand, criminal groups began stealing crude oil from oil pipelines, and the annual volume of stolen goods was estimated at more than $120 million, according to police. No less attention is paid to changes in consumer demand. Rising incomes in China and the rapid formation of a “middle class” have led to increased demand for exotic, expensive seafood dishes, including those whose production and trade are prohibited. In particular, in cooperation with Mexican drug cartels, the Chinese triads began supplying Hong Kong with dried totoaba swim bladders, an endangered species of fish that is illegally caught and smuggled into Hong Kong from the Americas. International trade in totoaba is officially prohibited, and its production has been illegal since 1975, as the fish is listed as a rare endangered species. At the same time, poaching of totoaba is accompanied by simultaneous illegal hunting of another rare species - the vaquita porpoise, which lives only in the Gulf of California and often gets stuck in nets installed for catching totoaba.

As Greenpeace representatives note, the illegal production and sale of endangered fish and marine animals has attracted the attention of Hong Kong triads and Mexican drug cartels, since this type of underground business brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits annually. Totoaba swim bladder is highly prized in Hong Kong and mainland China as a delicacy, fetching up to HK$1 million per kilogram. Totoaba swim bladder contains a number of quite rare substances used in Chinese medicine. In addition, the insides of fish are used to prepare expensive gourmet dishes. In mainland China, the cost of a bowl of totoaba soup can reach $25,000. Despite the high price, demand in China far exceeds supply.

According to Greenpeace representatives, thanks to the active involvement of triads, Hong Kong has become a center of illegal wildlife trade, which is facilitated by weak customs controls - dried totoaba swim bladders are easily transported here through the airport, and then sold in markets and transported to mainland China. In two years, customs detained only two totoaba swim bladders, while an unofficial inspection of 70 retail outlets conducted by Greenpeace representatives in March-April 2015 revealed 13 cases of sales of this product. At the same time, a number of traders offered to organize deliveries from Mexico, and some were ready to send samples to mainland China for an additional fee of 2,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Organized crime in China, no matter how hard they tried to destroy it, survived both the empire and the republic. No matter how hard the authorities try different times destroy the triads by killing their leaders, criminal groups continued to exist, only strengthening the conspiracy. At the same time, the triads, which noticeably suffered from the authorities of communist China, behave quite loyally towards the authorities. Moreover, some even call the Chinese triads “the most patriotic mafia in the world.” Thus, when Beijing declared 2002 the “year of tourism,” the triads took all measures to prevent crimes against foreign tourists. Representatives of the triads were even on duty on the streets, like law enforcement officers. In fact, there is a very clear logic in this - the more comfortable foreigners feel in China, the more often they will come and the more more money Chinese shops, hotels and restaurants will start operating, giving 15 percent of their profits to the triads every month. The same considerations were dictated by the statement of representatives of the triads, made at the height of the SARS outbreak in China, about a million-dollar reward for a doctor who could find a cure for this disease. The triads also offered generous funding to research centers working on this problem.

A characteristic feature of the activities of triads is that the bulk of the capital earned from operations around the world returns to China. In fact, this is why many researchers call the triads the “mafia of patriots,” saying that the triads are trying to strengthen China’s economy and want their country to be richer. However, everything is not so obvious.

The bulk of the capital of the triads, which were based after 1949 in Hong Kong, Taiwan and scattered their divisions around the world, poured into the PRC after Beijing, as part of the reforms, announced a strategy for large-scale attraction of foreign investment, including huaqiao capital. Taking advantage of this, the leaders of the largest and most influential triads established contacts with representatives of the Chinese leadership at all levels, which ensured the safe penetration of their capital into mainland China, mainly into its southern provinces. Triad money was used to create various profitable joint ventures, including nightclubs, hotels, restaurants and casinos. However, in many cases with Chinese side The co-founders of these institutions were regional representatives of the security agencies of the PRC, in particular the Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security and the People's Liberation Army of China. Thus, the triads could easily launder funds received from illegal businesses abroad and extract additional profits, while China received the investments necessary for reforms.

...and beyond

Over time, however, Beijing came to the conclusion that support from the triads was becoming unnecessary and even burdensome, and therefore a new round of the fight against organized crime began. At the same time, almost simultaneously, the slogan “Go Outside” was put forward, which encouraged the purchase of assets abroad and the creation of new enterprises there. Under these conditions, the leaders of the triads quite naturally turned the direction of their activity outward. Using the processes of globalization, Chinese triads have seized leading positions in organizing human trafficking and organizing flows of illegal migration to the EU and the USA, as evidenced by the reports of Europol and the US State Department for 2005-2006.

Thus, one of the most famous triad organizations, “14 K”, named after its postal address (house 14 in Xiguan Baohualu), took key positions in organizing the supply of heroin to the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada and the USA. It has branches in all these countries. Investigators with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police claim that 14K and other triads have permanent representatives in every Chinese community in the slightest degree throughout North America and are connected to almost all areas criminal activity, capable of generating profit - from extortion and loan fraud to credit card scams and video piracy.

Unlike other ethnic criminal communities that do not care who they rob, triads operating abroad choose only Chinese people and Chinese organizations as their main sources of income. Although at one time the triads, Cosa Nostra and the Japanese yakuza entered into certain agreements among themselves, the triads to the greatest extent retained their independence and closeness from the outside world. Another notable difference between triads and mafias concerns structure and discipline. As anyone who has watched The Godfather or even an episode of The Sopranos knows, Italian organized gangs are very tightly structured and run with a firm hand, like any corporation (or rather, they were; we will look at the details in the next chapter). Before taking on any profitable business, mafia members must obtain the approval of management and agree in advance to transfer part of the proceeds to him. Negligence or deliberate failure to comply with these rules may result in the most serious penalties.

In triads there is no such strict discipline and the concept of coordination from top to bottom and the transfer of a share of production from bottom to top is completely absent. This is how one of the participants in the already mentioned Hong Kong triad “14 K” during interrogation described the situation in his organization to an Australian parliamentary investigator: “I was not required to pay a mandatory share to the leadership of “14 K.” This is not accepted in triads. Members of the triad treat each other favorably, provide mutual support and assistance to colleagues in criminal groups, but in triads, as a rule, there is no such strict discipline organizational structure, which is found in other groups, for example in the Italian mafia. A member of a triad is not required to obtain permission from the "Dragon Head" of his triad to participate in a particular criminal act... On the other hand, during... traditional Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year, members of the triad, according to custom, present gifts to their “big brothers” or “uncles”, who often occupy a leadership position in the triads.”

We can say that the triads act “more gracefully” than the mafia, whose brutality has become the talk of the town. Triad militants can be no less brutal, but they often preface their actions with threats expressed in subtle or, on the contrary, very direct form. One Hong Kong businessman, unwilling to deal with threats from the triad, was sent a severed dog's head - perhaps the militants did this under the influence of the famous horse's head scene from The Godfather. They killed him only a few days later, after he pointedly ignored this threat.

The isolation makes it especially difficult for Western intelligence agencies to gain access to the triads. Chinese communities in North America are the most closed of all ethnic groups, and are justifiably suspicious of attempts by outsiders to gain access to their culture. As a result, in order to penetrate the leaders of the triad, it is necessary to overcome two defensive barriers: the general cultural barrier that all Chinese use to isolate themselves from foreigners, and the veil of secrecy that protects the triads as such.

Another complication for law enforcement agencies is the ability to use bribery or the threat of compromise to keep local police under control. For many years before the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the Royal Hong Kong Police did not have an effective criminal unit, and the influence of the triads and the extent of their activities in the colony appear to have been greatly downplayed. It was only a detailed investigation carried out in 1983 that revealed the true scale of the secret criminal groups. At the same time, it became known about colossal corruption in the KKE, in particular, that the police elite for many years covered up the drug trade carried out by triads. Many police officials have become wealthy through their connections with the triads, and according to police sources, quite a few of them emigrated to the UK and Canada before Hong Kong became part of Communist China in 1997, where, thanks to the wealth they accumulated, they settled down and became respectable people. rich businessmen.

The annexation into mainland China in July 1997 also prompted an exodus of triad members abroad for fear of imminent reprisals, but many observers aware of the level of corruption under the communist regime believe that the triads have regained their former influence in the time since. It is possible that the Hong Kong triads are now more or less under Beijing's control, but their influence now extends, albeit to varying degrees, throughout the world. In the UK, the National Crime Police conducted an investigation into triad activity in the country, under the simple code name “Chopsticks”. A 1996 NCP report reported that there were four triads operating in the UK, none of which were controlled from Hong Kong; therefore, these groups were not part of the international criminal community. The victims of the triads were primarily Chinese immigrants running small businesses; they generally did not report crimes to British authorities. The investigation also found that triads do not play a significant role in the drug trade, unlike the situation in Australia, Canada and the United States.

In 1988, an investigation by the Australian government revealed that 85-95% of all heroin entering this country was imported by Chinese triads. However, ten years later, a similar investigation conducted by the Americans showed that the share of triads had noticeably decreased as a result of competition from criminal organizations in Southeast Asian countries, primarily Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines.

In the 1970s and 1980s. the highest quality heroin entering North America was produced in Turkey, processed in Marseilles, from where it reached the United States (the famous “French Network”); all this happened under the control of the mafia. Emigration of triad leaders from Hong Kong in the 1990s. allowed the Chinese to partially seize control of drug networks. The triads found ways to bypass Marseille, through which the bulk of the potion previously passed. Now the routes run either through Amsterdam or directly to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and from there to the main market - the USA. Most researchers consider the “14 K” triad as the primary source of drugs.

In Japan, the Chinese triads have even slightly pushed back the yakuza, bringing under their control two-thirds of the heroin trade. Estimated American experts, Chinese mafia structures have deeply penetrated the legal and shadow economy of the United States, ahead of the Colombian cartels. In Italy, in 2006, law enforcement agencies conducted a major investigation into the connections of Chinese triads with the Italian mafia, during which they identified investments of criminal money in real estate and trade in Milan, and in Rome, investigators found front companies and banks in which money was laundered. The Italian police came to the attention of 22 thousand Chinese, and 250 criminal cases were opened against members of the triads.

Chinese organized crime has also shown that it is quite capable of provoking global economic crises and influencing market prices. Thus, in 2005, the global copper market was on the verge of disaster due to a massive fraud on the London Metal Exchange. Then trader Liu Yulbin, who works for the triads and is well known in business circles, sold 200 thousand tons of copper on the exchange, acting on behalf of the Chinese state corporation State Reserve Bureau. After selling non-existent copper, the trader disappeared, and when the scandal resulted in global copper prices reaching a historical record.

Of course, the expansion of the Chinese triads could not bypass Russia. As Vitaly Nomokonov, a well-known specialist on transnational crime, noted, in the Far East these processes were characterized by intensive integration of Russian and Chinese mafia structures. For example, in Ussuriysk, representatives of triads built relationships with local leaders of the criminal world on a purely business basis. Thus, representatives of Russian organized crime groups helped the Chinese buy metal here and transport it abroad. In addition, Russian “colleagues” created transport companies whose services were used by representatives of Chinese criminal communities, and also provided them with warehouses for storing goods, including smuggled goods.

One more characteristic feature The activity of Chinese triads in Russia is their active creation of companies registered under dummies - citizens of the Russian Federation. Many of these companies are created to conduct one-time transactions, for example, to sell any counterfeit products for the purpose of legalizing them, cashing them out or transferring funds abroad, etc. Thousands of such companies were registered in Chita and Novosibirsk regions, mainly for the export of strategic raw materials to China.

Although almost nothing has been said about triads in Russia lately, this does not mean that they do not exist and that they do not work here. It’s just that many of their former partners from among the criminal authorities have now become famous businessmen, public figures and deputies of different levels, having legalized part of their business. It’s exactly the same with the triads - they still skim off the “cream” from Chinese firms operating in Russia, organize the supply of timber, biological resources, raw materials, etc., while simultaneously controlling a significant part of the Chinese tourist flow, directing it to their hotels, restaurants and cafe.

Triads are part of Chinese history and part of the modern global world. They have an exceptional ability to survive, developed over millennia, which forces them to change in accordance with changing conditions. But the basis of this survival is following traditions, without which the triads would be an ordinary ethnic criminal community, and not a criminal-historical phenomenon.

Each state has its own dark side and the local mafia is one of them. We all know Cosa Nostra and the Yakuza well, but we don’t know much about the Chinese mafia. But even despite this, the Chinese "Triad"- one of the largest criminal organizations in the world. The number of her followers is about 1,200,000 people. And this is only in China itself, but there are so many more all over the world!

The Chinese mafia has an interesting and ancient history. Its origins began 2500 years ago, when the Ming dynasty was overthrown by barbaric methods, and the Qing dynasty became dominant. Manchu troops burned cities and killed men, women and children. But in Once again Having left ashes at the site of the settlement, the warriors did not expect that several monks would remain alive and decide to avenge their relatives and friends. In 1644, the monks swore a blood oath to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, thereby creating the first “Triad”, or rather the Union of Earth, Sky and Man (also known as “Hung Moon” or “Heishehui” - a black society). Their symbol was the triangle. Its sides symbolized the main components of the Chinese universe: Earth, Sky and Man. And also, according to numerology, the number 3 has special properties and effects on the criminal world.

The activities of the Union were aimed at the underground struggle against imperial power. The source of finance was the tribute imposed on merchants. Everyone who refused to pay died on the spot. With the funds received, the monks purchased weapons and provisions. But the guerrilla war against the ruling dynasty ended when all the founders of the organization died. Their followers took their place, but they already had completely different interests: slave trade, piracy and other illegal fishing.

Later, the Chinese mafia tried to fight the foreign colonists of Great Britain, the USA and France. The Boxer Rebellion was organized, but it did not bring the desired results. And the triads switched from influencing external factors to regulating the internal situation. It was thanks to the Chinese mafia that the imperial dynasty was defeated and a republican system of government was established. Although it was not possible to resist the communists during the collapse of the Chinese Republic.

In the second half of the 20th century, Hong Kong became the epicenter of the development of mafia activities. It was there that the sensational criminal organization “14 K” was founded (the name is associated with their address and the name of the founder - Siuvong the Cat). The organization has branches in Canada, the USA, the UK and the Netherlands, and is also one of the largest suppliers of heroin. However, according to police information, “14 K” is involved in absolutely all types of crime that generates profit.

Charter and structure

The structure of triads is quite simple. As in any organization, there is a head and subordinates. Members of triads use numerology to designate their “position.” For example, the number “489” denotes the leader of the clan, “438” the manager or deputy leader, “426” the chief of security operations, and “49” the ordinary militant. The number "25" denotes a traitor or spy.

Each member of the organization does his job: the leader of the clan has the most big influence and leads the strategy of the triad, his deputy is responsible for general and financial affairs, the person in charge of security operations is responsible for preparing the fighters for upcoming missions and developing their plan, and the job of the fighter is to carry out the assigned task and obey the commander.

It is almost impossible to get into the triad from the street (although there are plenty of people willing, because, alas, there are not enough jobs for all the residents of China). In order to become a member of the organization, you must obtain recommendations from two current members. But that's not all. Every newcomer must undergo an “initiation.” In each of the triads, the initiation ritual is different: some are tested with blows of a sword, while others pass under knives precariously fixed in the ceiling. But the following actions remain unchanged: each recruit is required to take 36 oaths, study all the signals and secret codes of the Triad, and also receive the first task. Most often, this is a reprisal against a policeman who refuses to take a bribe. After such operations, the newcomer is connected with the clans by blood. And a newcomer can move to a higher level in the Triad structure only after three years, if he is an exemplary fighter.

Of great importance for members of the Chinese mafia are tattoos, which cover almost their entire body. Each design has its own meaning, and applying it just like that can even be life-threatening (such tattoos are cut off along with the skin of their owner). For example, a dragon symbolizes power and nobility, a spruce tree means patience, a turtle - long life, plum - endurance and detachment, peony - luck and masculine strength, plantain - self-development.

Modern Triad

But, despite its danger and cruelty, the Chinese mafia can be called the most patriotic mafia in the world. For the Chinese mafioso, the well-being and financial stability of their country is of great importance. All the money earned on black markets, selling drugs and other “dirty” things, the Chinese mafiosi return to China. They are not in the habit of keeping their savings in Swiss banks. After all main law any Chinese Triad: “The richer our country, the richer we ourselves.” And this does not mean that the Chinese mafia is working under government circles, no, it is still an opposing force. There are certain conditions and interests that cause this patriotism...

In the early 90s, I visited Guangdong province as part of a Soviet business delegation, where we spent several days in the port of Shekou. This is the sea gate of the largest Chinese special economic zone, Shenzhen, being created in those years.

Shekou Port and Export Industrial Zone operated as a branch of the Hong Kong Investment Company. One evening we gathered for an informal meeting with the company's management in the cottage in which our delegation lived. And after lengthy toasts to unbreakable friendship, we were invited to visit the owner of the company by boat at night in Hong Kong. This took us by surprise. We arrived with visas from one communist country to another. And we are offered to visit capitalist Hong Kong, located behind the Iron Curtain, without visas. Seeing our confusion, the Chinese translator clearly explained to us that the Chinese businessman from Hong Kong is so omnipotent that none of the border guards and customs officers would dare to board the boat without his permission. Despite this clarification, we still did not take the risk.

A little later it became known that most of foreign capital that came to the special economic zones of China belonged to the powerful Chinese triads from Hong Kong.

Chinese triads- the largest group of global ethnic business, the most organized mafia in the world. Triads control and protect Chinese businesses from local rackets (including state rackets) around the world. In terms of organization and efficiency, the Italian, Russian or any other mafia cannot compete with the triads.

The concept of “triad” is associated with the Confucian perception of the world. In the objectively existing triad (earth, man and sky), man stands at the center of the universe and connects the opposite poles. Criminal “philosophy” places triads at the center of the global shadow economy, ensuring the indissolubility of Chinese business.

The first secret organizations (triads) that appeared in China in 1674 had the political goal of removing the ruling Manchu dynasty from power. Subsequently, the triads transformed into a secret syndicate of criminal groups. The formation of triads was influenced by pirates of the South China Sea.

The Chinese triads are the world's oldest criminal organization, about which less is known than the Cosa Nostra or the Yakuza. The gambling business of Macao is under the control of the triads. This former Portuguese colony is known as the "Monte Carlo of the East". Revenues from the gambling business exceed $2 billion, which is comparable to the revenues of the American roulette capital of Las Vegas. Triads feel especially prosperous in countries with high level corruption in Southeast Asia. Promising regions for triads are countries with criminally corrupt democracies in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus, where there are corrupt “elites in law.”

***
The religious origins of the Chinese triads were the secret Buddhist sect “Union of the White Lotus” that arose in the 12th century, which united in the 14th century with other Buddhist sects in the fight against the Mongolian Yuan dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), they repeatedly raised anti-government uprisings.

The origins of the secret organizations of Southern China, including Guangdong Province, were the “Society of Heaven and Earth,” from which came the “Society of Three Concords (Harmonies)” or “Society of the Triad,” founded at the end of the 17th century by fugitive Buddhist monks to fight the Manchus.

The emblem of the society became an equilateral triangle, personifying the trinity of “heaven – earth – man”. The term "triad" was coined in the 19th century by the British administration of Hong Kong and over time became synonymous with the Chinese mafia (organized crime).

Against the backdrop of unprecedented corruption in Guangdong province, a powerful drug mafia has developed around the opium trade.

Attempts to ban the import of opium led to the First Opium War (1841), Hong Kong was declared a free port, and the opium trade took on new life. Under the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, China ceded Hong Kong Island to Great Britain and opened Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen and Fuzhou to free trade.

In the mid-19th century, there were more than two dozen small secret societies in Hong Kong, controlling not only the opium trade, but also acting as a shadow administration for the Chinese community of Hong Kong, numbering 30 thousand people.

The triads intensified during the Taiping Rebellion (1850 – 1864) against the Manchu Qing dynasty. They took an active part in the Boxer Rebellion (1899 - 1901) against foreign interference in the economy, domestic politics and religious life of China. The triads sought to rid the Celestial Empire of Western Christian influence.

In the quarter century since 1850, half a million Chinese left Hong Kong and Macau for North America, Southeast Asia and Australia. They were followed by local gangsters who took shadow control of the Chinatowns.

In 1856, “civilized” Europeans (British, French) and Americans began the Second Opium War. After the capture of the capital of the Celestial Empire, the Beijing Peace Treaty was signed in 1860, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade and allowed the use of the Chinese as slave labor for guest workers (coolies) in the British and French colonies. The opium trade was finally legalized, in which in the early 70s in Hong Kong, leadership passed from the British to the Bombay company David Sassoon & Co. of the influential Sassoon family of Sephardic Jews.

Avadi (Abdallah) Sassoon (1818 - 1896) continued his father's work in the Indian opium trade in China. He moved from Bombay to London and for special services to the British crown (probably for successfully introducing the Chinese to drugs) received the title of baronet, became Sir Albert, who was friends with King EdwardVII.

As a result of the Opium Wars, thanks to the “civilized” Europeans and Americans, a large-scale “democratic” drugization of the subjects of the Middle Kingdom was possible. The number of drug addicts in the empire increased from 1842 to 1881. from 2 million to 120 million people. Every third inhabitant of the Celestial Empire out of 369 million people has become a drug addict.

In the 90s of the 19th century, the secret societies of Hong Kong, Shanghai and Canton supported the leader of the Chinese bourgeois revolution, Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Kuomintang Party and the Republic of China.

On the basis of the Hong Kong “Triad”, the “Lodge of Loyalty and Harmony” union was created to promote anti-Manchu forces in the colony. In the mid-20s, with the rise to power of Chiang Kai-shek (a member of a secret society), tirades became the militant wing of the Kuomintang party, eliminating opponents in Shanghai and other cities, including trade unionists and communists.

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong (1941–1945), local triads continued to control the black market. After the Japanese surrender, the colonial administration carried out a large-scale war against the triads. Since 1949, in mainland China, the communists who came to power set the task of eliminating secret societies, participation in which was punishable by death. Many members of the Chinese triads emigrated to Hong Kong.

At the end civil war The intelligence services of the Kuomintang party united the secret societies under their control into the “Union of Loyalty and Justice”, led by a Kuomintang general. Subsequently, the union was transformed into the “14K” syndicate (according to one version, by analogy with the former headquarters in Canton). This is one of the most numerous and influential triads in Hong Kong, which in the 90s was considered the largest in the world, but due to persecution it expanded beyond Hong Kong. In 2010, this already international triad had 20 thousand members and controlled business not only in Hong Kong and Macau, but also ethnic Chinese societies in the USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The 14K syndicate, in addition to controlling the supply channels of heroin and opium from Southeast Asia to China, North America and Europe, is involved in gambling, usury and money laundering, contract killings and other types of criminal activities.

Chinese triads control one of the three global poles of drug trafficking, the so-called opium “Golden Triangle”, the other two - Afghanistan and Colombia - are under the “patronage” of American intelligence services. In 1949, after the end of the Chinese Civil War and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the remnants of the 93rd Kuomintang Division went to the southwestern province of Yunnan. Here, on the border of Burma, Laos and Thailand (the “Golden Triangle”), the Kuomintang took control of the drug business and ensured drug trafficking through Hong Kong to the USA and Taiwan.

A new story began during the American aggression against Vietnam. The brave American military personnel used brothels in Hong Kong and Thailand for recreation and demanded heroin to raise their tone. And the Chinese triads followed these wishes and switched from opium to heroin production.

The British colonial administration of Hong Kong fought the triads with varying success; the number of local gangsters decreased three times from the 60s to the 80s from 300 thousand. Since the beginning of the policy of economic reform and opening up, the Chinese communist government has wisely decided that the triad cannot be eradicated to the core. Therefore, some trade unions and triads in Hong Kong were taken under the control of the intelligence services. The largest triads “Fuixing” (60 thousand members), “14K” (20 thousand), “Brotherhood of the Big Ring” and others strengthened ties with groups in mainland China, and the geography of their activities spread throughout the world.

Triads continue to play a significant role in the life of Hong Kong and Macau, and the scale of activity is amazing. In 2014, the leaders of illegal gambling syndicates that accepted bets on FIFA World Cup matches in Brazil were arrested in a Macau hotel. total amount bets accepted through calls and the Internet amounted to over $645 million (!). There is no doubt that neoliberal globalization has successfully served the Chinese triads.

***
Members of triads are connected to each other by a traditional system of rituals, oaths, passwords and recognize each other by many conventional signals that are invisible to outsiders. To join the “brotherhood” you need not only to secure a recommendation from an experienced triad member, but also to undergo severe and dangerous tests, including participation in gangster operations. In triads great importance have tattoos. For example, a dragon signifies prosperity, nobility and power, a snake signifies wisdom and will, and an orchid signifies perfection, harmony and sophistication.

Members of triads use their own slang, secret handshakes, gestures and signs, and codes to designate ranks and positions in group hierarchies. Traditional Chinese numerology is used, originating from . Each triad has departments of protection, information (intelligence and counterintelligence), communications, recruitment and education.

***
Over the course of their history, Chinese triads have transformed from religious sects and secret societies (huidans) in opposition to the government into criminal syndicates that have spread throughout the world. Where there is a Chinese diaspora, there are triads. For many centuries, secret societies played a consolidating role in Chinese society: “The authorities rely on the law - and the people - on the Huidans.”

An exceptional feature of the centuries-old vitality of secret societies was iron discipline, deep secrecy and merciless reprisal against enemies and traitors.

Secret societies, waging a long struggle against oppressors and invaders, have gained fame in Chinese society as a punishing sword. But in the 20th century, the criminal “Triad Society” emerged from the secret societies.

In the future, Chinese triads will continue to control migration flows. The more corrupt the country of residence, the more successfully the triads will play the role of shadow administration for the Chinese diaspora.

The geopolitical transformation of the world order does not only lead to the economic leadership of communist China. Transnational relations in the criminal world will change. The Chinese triads will not only lead the world, but will fulfill their main “patriotic” task - they will take control of global drug trafficking not only from the “Golden Triangle”, but also in Afghanistan and Colombia in order to punish the West (the British, French and Americans) for inhumane 19th century opium wars against the Chinese people.

It is likely that an international tribunal for Western crimes against humanity will be created in the second half of the twenty-first century. Sooner or later, China will take revenge on the West for its national shame.

Literature
Ivanov P. M. Hong Kong. History and modernity. - M.: Nauka, 1990. - 278 p.

Kostyaeva A.S. Secret societies of China in the first quarter of the 20th century. - Institute of Oriental Studies RAS. - M: Eastern literature, 1995. - 240 p.

And throughout Southern China there was an organization called “Tiandihui” (天地會, “Society of Heaven and Earth”) or “Hongmen”, from which came “Sanhehui” (三合會, “Society of Three Harmonies”, “Society of Three Harmonies” or “Society triads"), according to one version, founded at the end of the 17th century by fugitive Buddhist monks in Fujian province to fight the Manchus.

According to another version, the secret anti-Qing society "Tiandihui" was founded in the 60s of the 18th century in Zhangzhou County, Fujian Province, and soon spread its activities throughout China. Members of the Huidan, in order to increase their authority in the eyes of the peasants, created and cultivated the myth that at the origins of the Tiandihui there were five monks who escaped after the destruction of the Shaolin Monastery by the Manchus and vowed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. According to this legend, the 128 warrior monks who founded the Triad Society refused the Manchu demand to surrender the monastery and shave their heads as a sign of loyalty to the Qing dynasty. After a ten-year siege, the invaders were still able to burn Shaolin, but 18 brothers managed to escape from the ring. After a long persecution, the five surviving monks, who later became known according to ritual as the “Five Ancestors,” recreated the triad and began teaching martial wushu to the youth.

Several smaller groups separated from Tiandihui, including Sanhehui. This society took as its coat of arms an equilateral triangle, personifying the basic Chinese concept of “heaven - earth - man”, which usually includes the hieroglyph “Han”, images of swords or a portrait of the military leader Guan Yu (the number three in Chinese culture and numerology symbolizes the triad, plurality) . The term “triad” itself was introduced much later, in the 19th century, by the British authorities in Hong Kong due to the society’s use of the triangle symbol, and at their instigation it became synonymous with Chinese organized crime. Anti-Qing secret societies were also formed from other religious sects. For example, from the Jiugongdao (Way of the Nine Palaces) sect came the secret societies of Huanglonghui (Yellow Dragon), Huangshahui (Yellow Sand), Hongshahui (Red Sand), and Zhenhuhui. ("True martial art"), "Dadaohui" ("Big Swords"), "Xiaodaohui" ("Small Swords"), "Guandihui" ("Guandi Ruler"), "Laomuhui" ("Old Mother"), "Heijiaohui" ("Black Peaks") "), "Hongqiaohui" ("Red Peaks"), "Baiqiaohui" ("White Peaks"), "Dashenghui" ("Great Sage"), "Hongdenhui" ("Red Lanterns"). Although the Chinese authorities banned the smoking of opium in 1729, the British began to import this drug into Guangzhou from India from the end of the 18th century, selling it through corrupt Chinese officials (to a lesser extent, but the Americans also imported opium from Turkey). IN late XVIII century, Hong Kong turned into the camp of a powerful pirate army led by Zhang Baoji, which collected tribute from Chinese and Portuguese merchant ships (during the period of greatest power, Zhang Baoji's flotilla numbered several hundred ships and 40 thousand fighters).

First half of the 19th century

During the suppression of the peasant uprising of 1805, which covered the provinces of Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan and Gansu, Chinese and Manchu feudal lords executed over 20 thousand members of the Bailianjiao sect. After further repression by the authorities, one of the surviving leaders of the Baguajiao (Teaching of the Eight Trigrams) sect, Guo Zheqing, fled to Guangdong Province, where he founded a new Buddhist sect, Houtianbagua, and began teaching Wushu to his followers. The merchant Ko Laihuang, also forced to flee Manchu persecution, brought the "Tiandihui" traditions to Siam and Malaya.

By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, a powerful drug mafia with connections at the very top had already formed in Guangdong province (the governor and the head of the Guangdong maritime customs covered the illegal business, and even the emperor himself received bribes). If in 1821 the British imported 270 tons of opium into China, then in 1838 the import of the drug already reached 2.4 thousand tons. The British delivered opium to warehouse ships off the coast of Guangdong. The junks of local tycoons and pirates transported the drug to Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and the port of Tianjin, and from there the opium was distributed throughout the country (corruption reached such a scale that even Chinese customs and naval vessels carried the drug).

The European, who took the Chinese name Lu Dongju, led a detachment of several thousand Chinese who, since 1848, had attacked only English ships. By the spring of 1849, Qiu Yabao had assembled a new flotilla of 13 junks, but in March 1850 the British again defeated him at Dapengwan Bay. In the fall of 1849, the Sapynchay fleet (64 junks and 3.2 thousand soldiers) was also destroyed. In 1849, the Chinese population of Hong Kong exceeded 30 thousand people (among them, construction workers, servants in European houses, boatmen and small traders predominated). The Chinese united into communities and guilds, and the role of shadow administration among them began to be played by secret societies (the centers of the communities were ancestral temples). In Hong Kong, the traditional system of “adopted daughters” (mozi) became extremely widespread, when poor families sold girls into service, and underground syndicates took children to Singapore, Australia, and San Francisco, where they sold them to brothels.

Second half of the 19th century

Other secret societies were also influential among recent immigrants from China. Thus, the majority of people from Guangdong and Fujian belonged to the members of the "Sanhehui", from Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Sichuan - to the "Gelaohui", from Shanghai - to the "Qingban" and "Hongban", from Anhui, Henan and Shandong - to the " Dadaohui", from Zhili (Hebei) and Beijing - to "Zailihui". But not everyone was able to remain faithful to the old Huidans for a long time in a new place. In Hong Kong, that "melting pot" of Southern China, with its increased dynamism and mobility, most of the members of secret societies either joined the ranks of the local Huidan, belonging to the Sanhehui, or emigrated. In 1887, Hong Kong passed a law against opium smuggling, but farmers still continued to illegally export the drug to China, establishing connections with pirates and officials. By 1891, about 17% of Hong Kong's Chinese population were opium users. In May 1894, homeowners, together with the Huidan leadership, organized another coolie strike in the colony. In 1894, the plague epidemic claimed 2.5 thousand lives, the British authorities demolished several Chinese quarters and burned some houses, as a result of which the remaining 80 thousand people were forced to leave the colony (in 1895, the entire population of Hong Kong was 240 thousand). Human). In April 1899, residents of the New Territories, led by the elders of the Deng clan, the largest landowners in the area, began armed resistance to the British, supported by members of secret societies.

In the 90s of the 19th century, Hong Kong served as a rear base for Chinese revolutionaries, who were financed by local entrepreneurs Huang Yongshan, Yu Yuzhi, He Qi, Li Sheng and others. The colony also became a point of contact for revolutionaries with representatives of anti-Qing secret societies. Thus, at the end of 1899 in Hong Kong, a meeting was held between the leaders of the Xinzhonghui (Chinese Revival Union) founded by Sun Yat-sen with representatives of the largest Huidans - Gelaohui (Elder Brothers Society), Qingban, Hongban and Sanhehui " Revolutionaries and members of secret societies formed an alliance, and some Xinzhonghui figures received high positions in the Huidans, for example, Sun Yat-sen's friend Chen Shaobo joined the Triad, becoming the head financial management(he was also accepted into the highest hierarchy of the Gelaohui society). On the basis of the Hong Kong “Triad”, the Zhonghetang Union (“Lodge of Loyalty and Harmony”) was created to promote anti-Qing forces in the colony. By the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese guilds of traders in rice, sugar, butter, poultry, vegetables and fruits, metal products, fabrics, coal and firewood had formed in Hong Kong, becoming an influential force in the economy of the colony. At the same time, the Sanhehui secret society, which already occupied strong positions in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, began to actively penetrate among Chinese entrepreneurs.

First half of the 20th century

Fellowships, often closely associated with secret societies, created schools for their fellow countrymen, published newspapers, raised funds among wealthy Huaqiao to help refugees, and financed the maintenance of hospitals and orphanages. Detachments of patriotic Huaqiao from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies fought in China against the Japanese, receiving weapons and medicine from Hong Kong. By 1941, the Japanese had created their own station in Hong Kong, with which many Huidan members actively worked. Chen Liangbo, a major financier, chairman of the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and Huifeng (HSBC) comprador, was even arrested for spying for the Japanese.

The Guangdong and Fujian mafias, the most powerful during the years of Japanese occupation, divided the city into spheres of influence, controlled the black market for food, many streets, collecting tribute from merchants and passers-by. Members of the Huidan, who collaborated with the Japanese police, ran brothels (about five hundred of them were concentrated in the Wanchai region alone), opium dens (drugs were delivered by Japanese military planes from Northern China) and gambling houses, paying a share to the occupiers. After the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945 and the outbreak of civil war in China, a flood of new wave refugees. From 1950, the population of the colony increased from 1.75 million to 2.23 million people (at the end of 1949, on average, about 10 thousand refugees arrived in Hong Kong from China per week). By 1950, about 330 thousand people lived in the slums and tents of Hong Kong. The British administration in 1950 demolished more than 17 thousand huts, leaving 107 thousand people homeless, and as a result of a strong fire that broke out in the Kowloon slums, about 20 thousand more people found themselves on the street. The Chinese refugee camps that emerged in Hong Kong came under the control of the mafia, and the system of illegal child trafficking became widespread. Intensified gangsters and pirates made their living by robbing warehouses and stores, attacks on fishing junks and passenger ships, and racketeering businessmen. The campaign against the Huidan carried out by the Hong Kong authorities in 1947 led to the defeat of 27 organizations, the deportation of more than 100 of their members and the arrest of 77 people. In 1948, more than 25 thousand people were arrested (4.5 thousand of whom were flogged). In September 1949, the Kuomintang killed in Hong Kong a former associate of Chiang Kai-shek, General Yang Tse, who had become close to the communists.

Second half of the 20th century

In October 1956, on the day of the celebration of the Xinhai Revolution (“Two Tens Festival”), members of “14K” and Taiwanese agents provoked demonstrations in Kowloon that escalated into pogroms of left-wing trade unions, trading firms and stores selling goods from China, arson of cars, and robberies. private houses, industrial enterprises and clinics. Initially, until the unrest escalated into riots (especially in the Chungwan region of the New Territories), the British authorities preferred not to intervene in the conflict. And yet the army had to use force to disperse the demonstrators, and the police had to shelter the surviving communists and other leftists. Hundreds of people were killed as a result of the riots, but according to the official version, about 60 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. Hong Kong authorities detained more than 5 thousand people within a week, and soon took strict measures that pacified the activity of local triads for some time. By 1958, about 15% of the colony's inhabitants were members of the Huidan (before the war - only 8-9%); they committed more than 15% of all serious crimes. The authorities' decisive fight against opium dens led in the late 50s to an increasingly widespread use of heroin on the streets. In addition, Hong Kong began to turn into a transit point for heroin smuggling in

The history of Chinese triads goes back nearly 2,500 years. A triad is a traditional form of criminal community that has existed in China since the 2nd century BC. e. to this day. The first mention of triads in the Chinese chronicle appeared during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (221-210 BC), when small groups of pirates and slave traders decided to unite into three large communities called the “Shadow of the Lotus.”

According to researchers, the mafia of the Celestial Empire borrowed its name from the sacred symbol of Chinese society “heaven, earth, man,” forming a symbolic triangle. This name was finally assigned to the Chinese triads only in the 17th century. According to some written manuscripts that have survived to this day, in 1644, the nomadic horsemen of the Manchu Qing dynasty captured China and destroyed the Shaolin Monastery, famous for its martial arts. Only three monks survived, having gone to get provisions. When the trio returned, they saw only burning ruins and the dead bodies of their comrades. It was these three monks who founded the first “triad” - “The Union of Earth, Man and Heaven in the name of justice.”

The fighting cells of the new secret society swept the country, and all the shopkeepers paid him a tax, which was used to buy weapons for the “triad” partisan detachments that fought against the Manchu invaders. After the monks died, their followers gained control of the organization, held together by iron discipline, unquestioning obedience and supporters ready to carry out any order. However, the new leaders of the “triad”, instead of guerrilla warfare, preferred to engage in the slave trade, piracy, illegal gold mining and racketeering, citing the fact that the financial resources obtained by society were not enough to fight the Manchus. It was then that the “triad” became the mafia.

Today, Chinese gangs, “tongs” (organized US groups consisting mainly of ethnic Chinese and emigrants from the PRC) and “triads” rank second among criminal groups in the world in terms of the number of crimes committed after the Italian mafia. They are based in China itself, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places in Southeast Asia. “Triads” have an extensive system in Western Europe, in Chinese communities in North America and in the Russian Far East.

According to some estimates, there are about 160,000 triad members in Hong Kong today, belonging to 50 different organizations. In China itself, there are thousands of separate groups (their total number is 1 million 200 thousand people), which today completely control all illegal business in the country.

According to experts, in recent decades the Chinese “triads” have significantly strengthened their ranks. Since the second half of the 80s, among ethnic Chinese organized crime, there has been a high growth in the number of cohesive, highly organized underground units that do not allow outsiders to infiltrate.

Close to the Chinese “triads” in terms of their organizational model is the Vietnamese mafia, which received the nickname “snake”. In structure, it really resembles a snake, since the principle of transnational activity is as follows: first, a “head” appears, establishing contacts with national power structures, then the main forces slowly move in – the endless “body” of the snake. Within the group there is a strict hierarchy, iron discipline and total control over each member of the community. Modern triads have a mainly transnational nature of activity; they are closely connected with ethnic diasporas of emigrants in European, Asian and American countries. For example, Chinese “tongs” and mixed Chinese-Vietnamese groups are active in the United States.

Traditionally, the triad organization model is a strictly centralized hierarchy with six main positions:

The first position is occupied by the leader “san shu”, also known as “lung tao” (dragon head) or “tai lo” ( big Brother). Subordinate to him are four ranks of managers responsible for various specific aspects of the organization's activities, and ordinary members.

In the second position are the leaders of individual organizations or a number of them included in the triad, called “fu shang shu”, and a special person “sing fung”, who manages the recruitment of new members.

The third position is occupied by enforcers, militants - “hung kwan”, who lead operational groups of triads.

There is a special position for communication with other criminal communities and organizations - “sho hai”, as well as an expert in administrative and financial matters“Pak tse sin”, located in the fifth and fourth positions, respectively.

At the very bottom, in the sixth position, there are ordinary members, or soldiers - “sei kou jai”.

The hierarchical authoritarian style of organization emphasizes the following fact. All positions in the Chinese “triads” are usually designated by certain numbers. Persons holding significant positions in this criminal organization are designated by a three-digit number starting with 4, which corresponds to the ancient Chinese legend that the world is surrounded by four seas.

Thus, the leader of the “san shu”, who heads a society of triads in a separate city or on geographical area, called “489″;
“Hung Kwan” enforcers – 426; “sho hai”,
responsible for connections with other criminal groups – 432; A
administrative and financial expert – 415.
Simple members that do not have ranks are called by the two-digit number “49”.

The leadership is a kind of “think tank” that determines the direction and nature of the activities of the “triads”. In essence, the latter are feudal-patronymic organizations, the leaders of which have unlimited supreme power. Relatively large organizations are divided into separate units that have their own names.

Each of the members of such a fraternity, depending on age, belongs to either a large or small detachment and obeys the orders and orders of his commander. When determining the model of organization of transnational criminal activities of the Chinese “triads,” one can undoubtedly draw a conclusion about the corporate nature of the structure of these organizations. This is evidenced by their hierarchical structure with the centralization of leadership powers at the top.

Meanwhile, legal practitioners and analysts still cannot come to a consensus regarding the degree of organization of the “triads”. This happens because, in the presence of a strictly formalized structure at the management level, the executive levels that carry out direct criminal activities operate within the framework of a flexible network system, which can change depending on a particular criminal operation being carried out.

So perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they are similar to college alumni associations. Membership in a “triad” means an expression of a certain degree of trust, and its members form a single working group, called upon to provide assistance to other members, even strangers. Therefore, although “triads” have a certain formal structure, much of their criminal activity is typically carried out by those members who are recruited on a case-by-case basis within a flexible network system that can change as needed. Triads engage in many types of transnational criminal activity, including extortion, drug trafficking, illegal migration, prostitution, gambling, arms trafficking, racketeering, and protecting local businessmen.

As evidenced by Chinese law enforcement officials, the “triads” conduct their business and accounting very strictly. So, at the end of each month, tax inspectors from the “triads” come to the Chinese traders, who check the documents on profits in order to collect the 15 percent due to the mafia. At the slightest attempt to deceive the “triad,” severe punishment immediately follows. That same night, the businessman who decided to carry out the crime will be killed and his store will be burned.

Today, Chinese “triads” are one of the major suppliers of heroin to the United States and Western Europe. According to various sources, 1/4 of the drug trafficking on the Asian continent passes through the channels of Chinese “triads”. However, another paradoxical phenomenon in the history of Chinese organized crime is that “triads” have long become part of criminal Russia– the mafia from China controls the export abroad of forests cut down in Primorye, keeps a “roof” over Russian prostitutes in Hong Kong and Macau, and transports tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to the territory of the Russian Federation.

The history of the relationship between the state and organized crime in China has developed in a very peculiar and unusual way. As you know, power in “triads” almost always passes from father to son, so now in China there are two mafia dynasties (“14K” and “Green Dragon”), which originated during the reign of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

It is not uncommon for the “triads” to be led by the daughters of mafia bosses, including the famous pirate captain, Madame Lily Wong, who, after World War II, with the help of fleets of combat boats commanded by mercenaries from former officers The SS ravaged the entire Malayan coast for almost a decade.

At the same time, history knows other examples when Chinese mafiosi acted on the side of the people. For example, during the liberation struggle against the Japanese invaders. Historians note such an amazing historical fact that “triads” have existed as long as China itself has existed.

The tyrant emperors failed to destroy the “triads” for two millennia. And the harsh authoritarian government of the PRC over the past 50 years has not been able to even slightly shake the power of the mafia. However, such attempts were still made by the Chinese comrades. At the very beginning of Mao Zedong’s reign, the Chinese communists decided to solve the problem radically - they shot the leaders of the main mafia groups.

However, the repressions did not help. Their sons immediately became the leaders of the gangs. Before they had time to stand against the wall, their brothers took their places: it turned out that you couldn’t shoot the whole mafia. Thus, over the hundreds of years of their existence, “triads” have accumulated unique experience in confronting law enforcement agencies. According to many veterans of the Chinese police, even if all their leaders are sent to prison, not a single cog in the mechanism of the “triad” will fail.

Nowadays, on the streets of Beijing and other cities, you can often meet athletically built young people with a blank look and colored tattoos on their arms depicting a skull, dragon and cobra. These are representatives of the modern “triads” of China, who, along with the police, keep order on city streets. This interest of the “triads” in maintaining law and order is explained by the fact that today the elite of the Chinese mafia closely follows the policies of the Chinese leadership and in some way (as paradoxical as it may sound) supports it. For example, “triads” never rob foreign tourists in China, because since 2002, China has been proclaimed a country of “world tourism” - the more tourists come, the more money can be squeezed out of the owners of souvenir shops and restaurants.

One of the Chinese life principles is: “Take your time, sit down and think.” The Chinese mafia thinks through everything and plans for many years in advance; it does not live for today. Having established a company, founded a restaurant, opened a store, mafiosi are not going to make huge profits in a month: they wait for this for years. There is no point in rushing somewhere if the work started is right. It is precisely in their patience that the “triads” differ from the current “shadow tycoons” of the CIS, who usually need everything at once.

On top of everything else, the “triads,” paradoxically, are trying to strengthen the Chinese economy. Unlike the Russian “Solntsevsk” or “Podolsk” organized crime groups, which launder money in offshore companies in Cyprus, the Chinese mafiosi even transfer the currency “earned” in the United States from the sale of heroin back to China. Dollars received from the racketeering of Chinese restaurant owners in Europe, from arms smuggling to Africa, from pirate activities in southern seas– are also transported by couriers to China: it is not customary to deposit them into accounts in Switzerland. Chinese criminals just want their country to be richer.

It is believed that mafia agents have long been embedded in the state apparatus and the police. But at the same time, the “triads” buy only minor officials - they have no access to the big bosses. According to the leaders themselves, if the Chinese mafia can today buy the mayor of a small provincial town and force him to work for the “triad,” then it is not able to influence a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. And although police officers and minor officials are periodically fired from their jobs for “connections with crime,” the official government does not admit that the “triads” have agents in its ranks, and the mafia wisely does not confirm this. One thing is clear - the organized mafia in China, no matter how hard they tried to destroy it, survived both the empire and the republic. There is no doubt - if necessary, it will outlive the communists.