Chinese triads. The most organized secret societies in the world. Chinese triads: criminals with ancient history Modern Chinese triads
For all their closedness, the triads are the oldest criminal organization in the world - they are already more than 2500 years old: the first mention of them appeared in Chinese chronicles during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC). But actually they began to be called triads much later.
The evolution of triads: from the national liberation movement to the 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 on their blood to restore the Ming Dynasty waged a guerrilla war against the Manchu conquerors for many years, but never achieved success. In 1674, all the fighters, except for five people, were captured and brutally executed, and the monastery that served as their stronghold was destroyed.
These five surviving monks (their members of the triad are called the founding fathers or the Five Ancestors, and their names are always 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 the meetings of the triads 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 not only this was the reason for choosing a 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 activity. (For extortion, for example, the norm is often calculated on the basis of three.) Although the five surviving monks, known today as the Five Ancestors, gave their organization the name "Hong Mun" (this is the name adopted in Russian historiography, although in the original it sounds "Hong Men") , or Society of Earth and Sky (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 native Chinese usually refer to this organization as "Heishehui" - the black society.
Although Hong Mun failed to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, the organization existed for many years. Teaming up with the previously created "White Lotus", she constantly disturbed the imperial forces and repeatedly moved the population to revolts. According to the principles of Buddhism, the members of the organization had 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 wielded power and influence, although they never succeeded in realizing their original goal of overthrowing the Manchu Qing Dynasty, never popularly loved due to the brutal, repressive nature of power. A 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, their presence was unsettling to Britain, and as a result they were declared "incompatible with the maintenance of order" and accused of creating preconditions for the commission of crimes 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 the triad, but even to intend to join it. Punishment - up to three years in prison. If at this stage the triads had no obvious criminal goals, such an attitude undoubtedly pushed them in this direction.
In 1848, Hong Mun 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, 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. A new state of Taiping tyanguo was proclaimed - the Heavenly State of Great Prosperity. By then, China had become a semi-colony of Great Britain, the United States, and France, and the triads were the only force that offered organized resistance to foreign exploitation and oppression.
But the "Boxer Rebellion" of 1900 marked the transformation of the triads into organizations pursuing exclusively criminal goals. The uprising, which got its name because it was led by the secret society Fist for Justice and Consent (Yihetuan), was aimed at driving foreigners out of the country through murder and intimidation, directed primarily against settlements and missions located in Beijing and Shanghai. When besieged diplomats and trade representatives turned to their governments for help, eight countries sent expeditionary forces to China.
A combined force of 2,000, which included soldiers from Great Britain, Germany, Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Italy and Austria, under the overall command of the British Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, landed in June 1900. Strong resistance from the rebel and imperial Chinese troops forced Seymour retreat and call for reinforcements. In August, the number of his forces increased immediately by 20,000 people. After the capture of Tianjin, foreign armies began to fight their way to Beijing and reached the capital on 14 August.
Over the next few months, the invasion force continued to grow. In the end, they 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" Boxing) Protocol), which was the official end of the uprising. The country was completely demoralized, a crushing blow was dealt to the prestige of the authorities, but the imperial government had to go to even greater humiliation, allowing foreigners to consolidate their interests and continue to exploit the people and resources of the country. The consequences of the uprising continued to affect throughout the 20th century.
From that moment it became absolutely clear that the triads would not be able to exert any noticeable influence on the formation and implementation of China's national interests. The Boxers, who were a similar secret society, not only failed to defend 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 inland. Since they were unable to throw off foreign oppression, it means that they will have to engage in the exploitation of their fellow citizens, building up forces and avoiding any influence or threat from non-Chinese forces. True, for some time they retained an interest in politics. Their most outstanding achievement was their support of 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 well-founded assumption, especially considering that in his youth, according to numerous testimonies, he 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 to China for trial and execution. However, information about this reached the representatives of the triads operating in London, who took the unprecedented step of openly appealing 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 a decade later as a winner.
Chiang Kai-shek, who replaced Sun Yat-sen as leader of the Kuomintang party, was also able to own experience feel their power. So, once, 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 number, and politely explained that his wife was in complete safety, and you had to pay for security. Chiang Kai-shek did not bargain, and soon his wife was taken to a 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 the Portuguese-owned Macau and the British-occupied Hong Kong, which in the second half of the 20th century became the base of the triads. Representing many separate groups (the total number is approximately 1 million 200 thousand people), now they completely control all illegal business in China. In their hands are the supply of drugs, the "black market" of currency, human trafficking, smuggling of biological resources, underground brothels, arms trafficking, etc. But the basis of the business of the triads is still extortion - monthly "tax inspectors" of the triads come to Chinese merchants in the PRC, the USA, Europe and other regions of the world, who check the documents and take away the 15 percent of profits due to them. 
Triads in China...
It is believed that mafia agents have long been introduced into the state apparatus and the police, but at the same time, the triads buy only 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 she, as is commonly believed, cannot influence a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Although from time to time both police officers and petty officials fly out of their places for “connections with crime”, the official authorities do not recognize that the triads have agents in their ranks, and representatives of the triads themselves, of course, prudently do not confirm this.
Meanwhile, a study of modern organized crime in the PRC by the Chinese scholar Xin Yan suggests that the leaders of “mafia-type organizations” are increasingly infiltrating economic and 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 the administrative power of the lower level (in villages and villages, 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, become deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC) or members of political advisory councils in the provinces. Triads are more likely to intervene in the process associated with the reshuffling of high-ranking officials. Moreover, as noted in Xin Yang's study, some leaders in certain regions of the PRC sometimes asked the leaders of local triod cells to take over the administrative power of the lower level (for example, village management). Of course, many local leaders approached the triads with requests for financial assistance, deliberately placing themselves in a dependent position. As the criminal cases studied by Chinese experts show, it is not uncommon for organized criminal groups - local cells of triads - to be created and led by former party and administrative managers, high-ranking employees a number of prosecutor's offices and even acting representatives of the NPC, secretaries of party cells and heads of local public security organs.
The structures of triads have recently been increasingly trying to "work" under the guise of legally functioning firms and enterprises and penetrate into the economic spheres of the state. Receiving superprofits, the triads have established a system for laundering "dirty money". In China, according to Chinese experts, about 200 billion yuan (24.7 billion dollars) is laundered annually. Significant sums pass through underground money changers.
The triads are more active in the coastal provinces, and especially in Hong Kong. In their hands - the supply of heroin and opium, the "black market" of the currency; transporting prostitutes to brothels; arms trade; providing a "roof" for local businessmen. In 2005, the official China News Weekly Review published an article stating that Chinese mafia ties are not limited to Hong Kong and Macau, but have spread to major industrial centers of China, such as Guangzhou, Tianjin and Shanghai.
The Chinese mafia structures keep pace with the progress brought about by the reforms, and widely use all the 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 online trading. Now the range of goods includes drugs, prostitutes, stolen cars, weapons, forged documents and even human organs for transplants. Despite the fact that the authorities in China are trying to strictly control the Internet by creating more than 30,000-strong army of Internet policemen, the criminal business is flourishing online, and new sites are replacing closed sites.
Triads are quite responsive to changes in market trends and consumer preferences. In the mid-2000s, during a period of rapid growth in demand for fuel, criminal gangs began stealing crude oil from oil pipelines, and the annual amount of stolen oil, according to police, was estimated at more than $120 million. No less attention is paid to changes in consumer demand. Income growth in the PRC and the rapid formation of a "middle class" has led to an increase in demand for exotic expensive seafood dishes, including those that are prohibited from being harvested and traded. In particular, in cooperation with Mexican drug cartels, the Chinese triads have arranged the supply of dried totoaba swim bladders to Hong Kong, an endangered species of fish that is illegally caught and smuggled into Hong Kong from North and South America. The international trade of totoaba is officially prohibited, and its extraction has been considered illegal since 1975, since this fish is listed as a rare endangered species. At the same time, the poaching of totoaba is accompanied by the simultaneous illegal production of another rare species - the vaquita porpoise, which live only in the Gulf of California and often get stuck in the nets set for catching totoaba.
According to Greenpeace, the illegal harvesting and sale of endangered species of fish and marine animals has attracted the attention of the Hong Kong triads and Mexican drug cartels, since this type of underground business brings in hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The totoaba swim bladder is highly valued in Hong Kong and mainland China as a delicacy, priced at HK$1 million per kilogram. The swim bladder of totoaba contains a number of rather rare substances used in Chinese medicine. In addition, the insides of fish are used to prepare expensive gourmet dishes. In mainland China, a bowl of totoaba soup can cost as much as $25,000. Despite the high price, demand in China far exceeds supply.
According to Greenpeace representatives, thanks to the active involvement of the triads, Hong Kong has become a center for illegal wildlife trade, which is facilitated by the weakness of customs control - dried totoaba swim bladders are safely transported here through the airport, and then sold in the markets and transported to mainland China. In two years, customs detained only two totoaba swim bladders, while an unofficial inspection of 70 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 shipments from Mexico, and some were willing 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, outlived both the empire and the republic. No matter how hard the authorities different times to destroy the triads by killing their leaders, criminal gangs still continued to exist, only strengthening the conspiracy. At the same time, the triads, which suffered noticeably 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." So, when Beijing proclaimed 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 quite a clear logic in this - the more comfortable foreigners feel in China, the more often they will come and the more money Chinese shops, hotels and restaurants will earn, monthly giving the triads 15 percent of their profits. The triads' statement, made at the height of the SARS outbreak in China, about a million-dollar prize for a doctor who can find a cure for this disease was dictated by the same considerations. The triads also offered generous funding to research centers working on the problem.
A characteristic feature of the activities of the triads is that the bulk of the capital earned from operations around the world returns to China. In fact, that is why many researchers call the triads the "patriot mafia", stating that the triads are trying to strengthen the Chinese economy and want their country to be richer. However, everything is not so obvious.
The bulk of the capital of the triads, based after 1949 in Hong Kong, Taiwan and scattered their units around the world, poured into the PRC after Beijing, as part of 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 to mainland China, mainly to its southern provinces. The money of the triads was used to create various lucrative joint ventures, including nightclubs, hotels, restaurants and casinos. However, in many cases, Chinese side the co-founders of these institutions were regional representatives of the power departments 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 safely launder the funds received from illegal business abroad and extract additional profits, while China received the necessary investments for reforms.
… and beyond
Over time, however, Beijing came to the conclusion that support from the triads was becoming unnecessary and even burdensome, in connection with which a new round of the fight against organized crime began. At the same time, almost simultaneously, the slogan “Go outside” was put forward, encouraging 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, the Chinese triads have taken a leading position in organizing human trafficking and establishing illegal migration flows to the EU and the US, 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 Xiguan Baohualu), took a key position in organizing the supply of heroin to the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada and the USA. It has branches in all these countries. Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigators claim that K 14 and other triads have permanent representatives in every Chinese community in the slightest degree throughout North America, are connected with almost all spheres. criminal activity from extortion and loan scams to credit card scams and video piracy.
Unlike other ethnic criminal communities, which do not care who they rob, the triads, working abroad, choose only the Chinese and Chinese organizations as their main sources of income. Although at one time the triads, Cosa Nostra and the Japanese yakuza concluded certain agreements among themselves, the triads to the greatest extent retained independence and closeness from the outside world. Another notable difference between the triads and the mafia concerns structure and discipline. As anyone who has watched The Godfather or even one episode of The Sopranos knows, Italian organized gangs are highly structured and run with a firm hand, like any corporation (or rather, it was; we will discuss the details in the next chapter). Before undertaking any profitable business, members of the mafia must obtain the approval of the leadership and agree in advance to transfer part of the income to it. Negligence or willful failure to comply with these rules may result in the most severe penalties.
The triads do not have such strict discipline and completely lack the concept of top-to-bottom negotiation and transfer of share of the booty from bottom to top. Here 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 management of 14 K. This is not accepted in triads. Members of the triad treat each other kindly, provide mutual support and assistance to colleagues in criminal groups, but in triads, as a rule, there is no such strict disciplined organizational structure, which is available in other groups, for example, in the Italian mafia. A member of the triad is not required to obtain permission from the "Dragon Head" of his triad to participate in this or that 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 "elder brothers" or "uncles", who often occupy a leading position in the triads.
It can be said that the triads act "smarter" than the mafia, whose brutality has become the talk of the town. Triad fighters can be just as brutal, but they often preface their actions with subtle or very direct threats. One Hong Kong businessman who did not want to reckon with threats from the triad was sent a severed dog's head - perhaps the gunmen did this under the influence of the famous horse head scene from The Godfather. They killed him only a few days later, after he defiantly ignored this threat as well.
Insularity makes it particularly difficult for Western intelligence agencies to access the triads. Chinese communities in North America are the most closed of all ethnic groups, and are justifiably wary of attempts by outsiders to gain access to their culture. As a result, in order to penetrate to the leaders of the triad, it is necessary to overcome two defensive barriers: the general cultural barrier that all Chinese use to fence off foreigners, and the veil of secrecy that protects the triads as such.
Another complication for law enforcement is the ability to bribe or threaten to compromise local police control. For many years before the transfer of Hong Kong to China (1997), the Royal Hong Kong Police Force did not have an effective criminal unit, and, apparently, the influence of the triads and the scope of their activities in the colony were greatly underestimated. Only a detailed investigation carried out in 1983 showed the true extent of secret criminal groups. At the same time, it became known about the colossal corruption in the KKE, in particular, that the police elite for many years covered up the drug trade carried out by the triads. Many police officers have made a fortune from triad connections, and according to police sources, many of them emigrated to the UK and Canada before Hong Kong became part of communist China in 1997, where, thanks to their accumulated wealth, they settled down safely and turned into respectable wealthy businessmen.
Joining mainland China in July 1997 also prompted a massive exodus of triad members abroad for fear of imminent reprisals, but numerous observers who imagine the level of corruption under the communist regime are confident that since then the triad has regained its former influence. It is possible that the Hong Kong triads have now fallen under the control of Beijing to some extent, but now their influence, albeit to varying degrees, is spreading throughout the world. In the UK, the National Crime Police conducted an investigation of triad activity in the country, which took place under the unpretentious code name "Chopsticks". A 1996 NPC report stated 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 mostly Chinese immigrants involved in small businesses; they generally did not report crimes to the British authorities. The investigation also found that triads do not play a significant role in the drug trade - in contrast to 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 that country was imported by Chinese triads. However, ten years later, a similar investigation conducted by the Americans showed that the proportion of triads has noticeably decreased as a result of competition from criminal organizations in Southeast Asia, 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 entered 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 their way around Marseille, through which the bulk of the potion had previously passed. Now routes run either through Amsterdam, or directly to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and from there to the main market - in the USA. Most researchers consider the triad "14 K" as the primary source of drugs.
In Japan, the Chinese triads have even pushed back the yakuza a bit, taking control of two-thirds of the heroin trade. Estimated American experts, Chinese mafia structures have penetrated deeply into the legal and shadow economy of the United States, ahead of the Colombian cartels. In Italy, in 2006, law enforcement authorities conducted a major investigation into the connections of Chinese triads with the Italian mafia, during which criminal money investments in real estate and trade in Milan were revealed, and in Rome, investigators found shell companies and banks in which money was laundered. 22,000 Chinese came into the field of view of the Italian police, 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. So, in 2005, the world copper market was on the verge of disaster due to a grandiose fraud on the London Metal Exchange. At that time, Liu Yulbin, a trader working for the triads and 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 the sale of non-existent copper, the trader disappeared, and when, as a result of the scandal, world copper prices reached a historical record.
Of course, the expansion of the Chinese triads could not bypass Russia. As Vitaly Nomokonov, a well-known expert on transnational crime, noted, these processes in the Far East were characterized by the intensive integration of Russian and Chinese mafia structures. For example, in Ussuriysk, representatives of the triads built relationships with local leaders of the criminal world on a purely business basis. Thus, representatives of Russian organized criminal groups helped the Chinese to buy metal here and ship 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 contraband.
One more characteristic feature activity of the Chinese triads in Russia is the active creation of companies registered by nominees - citizens of the Russian Federation. Many of these firms are created to carry out one-time transactions, for example, to sell any counterfeit products in order to legalize them, cash out or transfer funds abroad, etc. Thousands of such companies were registered in the 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 at all that they do not exist and they do not work here. It's just that many of their former partners from among the criminal authorities have now become well-known businessmen, public figures and deputies of different levels, having legalized a part of their business. It is the same with the triads - they still skim the cream off Chinese firms operating in Russia, organize the supply of timber, bioresources, raw materials, etc., 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 makes them change according to changing conditions. But at the heart of this survival is following the 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 so, 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, and how many more there are all over the world!
The Chinese mafia has an interesting and ancient history. Its origin began 2500 years ago, when the Ming dynasty was overthrown by barbaric methods, and the Qing dynasty became dominant. Manchu troops burned cities, killed men, women and children. But in once more, leaving the ashes at the site of the settlement, the soldiers did not expect that a few monks would survive and decide to avenge their relatives and friends. In 1644, the monks swore on blood to overthrow the Qing dynasty, thus creating the first "Triad", or rather the Union of Earth, Sky and Man (also known as "Hong Mun" or "Heishehui" - a black society). The triangle became their symbol. 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 impact on the criminal world.
The activity of the Union was aimed at the underground struggle against the imperial power. The source of finance was the tribute, which was imposed on the merchants. Everyone who refused to pay died on the spot. With the funds received, the monks bought 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: the slave trade, piracy and other illegal fishing.
Later, the Chinese mafia tried to fight the foreign colonists of Great Britain, the United States 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 overthrown and a republican system of government was established. Although it was not possible to resist the communists in the collapse of the Chinese Republic.
In the second half of the 20th century, Hong Kong became the epicenter of mafia activity. 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 - Kot Siuvong). The organization has branches in Canada, the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands, and is also one of the largest suppliers of heroin. However, according to the police, "14 K" is related to absolutely all types of crime that makes a profit.
Charter and structure
The structure of triads is quite simple. As in any organization, there is a leader and subordinates. Triad participants 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 usual 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 manages the strategy of the triad, his deputy is responsible for general and financial matters, the one responsible for security operations is obliged to prepare the militants for the upcoming missions and develop their plan, and the task of the militant 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 who want to, because, alas, there are not enough jobs for all the inhabitants of China). In order to become a member of the organization, it is necessary to get the recommendations of two current members. But that's not all. Every newcomer must go through "initiation". In each of the triads, the ritual of initiation is different: someone is tested with sword blows, and someone passes under knives precariously fixed in the ceiling. But the following actions remain unchanged: each recruit must take 36 oaths, study all the signals and secret ciphers of the Triad, and also receive the first task. Most often, this is the massacre of 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 structure of the Triad only after three years, if he is an exemplary action movie.
Tattoos are of great importance for members of the Chinese mafia, with which almost their entire body is “clogged”. Each drawing has its own meaning, and applying it just like that is even life-threatening (such tattoos are cut off along with the skin of their owner). For example, the dragon symbolizes power and nobility, spruce means patience, turtle - long life, plum - endurance and detachment, peony - luck and virility, 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 mafia, the well-being and financial stability of their country is of great importance. All the money earned on the black markets, selling drugs and other "dirty" deeds, 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 works under government circles, no, it still constitutes the opposite force. There are certain conditions and interests that evoke this patriotism...
In the early 1990s, as part of a Soviet business delegation, I visited the province of Guangdong, where we spent several days in the port of Shekou. This is the sea gate of the largest Chinese special economic zone Shenzhen, created in those years.
The Shekou Port and Export Industrial Zone functioned 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 where our delegation lived. And after a long toast to the indestructible friendship, we were invited to visit the owner of the company on a boat night Hong Kong. This took us by surprise. We arrived with visas from one communist country to another. And we are offered to visit the capitalist Hong Kong located behind the Iron Curtain without visas. Seeing our confusion, the Chinese interpreter clearly explained to us that a 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 flowing into China's special economic zones belonged to the mighty Chinese triads from Hong Kong.
Chinese triads- the largest grouping of the world ethnic business, the most organized mafia in the world. The triads control and protect Chinese businesses from local rackets (including government ones) 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 an objectively existing triad (earth, man and sky), man stands at the center of the universe and connects the opposite poles. The 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 set the political goal of removing the ruling Manchu dynasty from power. In the future, the triads were transformed into a secret syndicate of criminal groups. The formation of the triads was influenced by the pirates of the South China Sea.
The Chinese Triads are the oldest criminal organization in the world, about which less is known than the Cosa Nostra or the Yakuza. Under the control of the triads is the gambling business of Aomyn (Macau). This former Portuguese colony is known as the "eastern Monte Carlo". The income from the gambling business exceeds 2 billion US dollars, which is comparable to the income of the American capital of roulette, Las Vegas. Triads feel especially safe in countries with high level corruption in Southeast Asia. A promising region for triads are the countries of criminally corrupt democracies in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus, where there are corrupt "elites in law".
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At the religious origins of the Chinese triads was the secret Buddhist sect that arose in the 12th century, the Union of the White Lotus, which united in the 14th century with other Buddhist sects in the struggle against the Mongol Yuan dynasty. During the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), they repeatedly raised anti-government uprisings.
At the origins of the secret organizations of South China, including the province of Guangdong, stood the "Society of Heaven and Earth", from which came the "Society of Three Concords (Harmony)" or the "Triad Society", founded at the end of the 17th century by fugitive Buddhist monks to fight the Manchus.
The emblem of the society was an equilateral triangle, personifying the trinity "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 a new lease of life. Under the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, China ceded the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain and opened Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen and Fuzhou to free trade.
In the middle of the 19th century in Hong Kong, there were more than two dozen small secret societies that controlled not only the opium trade, but also acted 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 China's economy, domestic politics, and religious life. The triads sought to rid the Celestial Empire of Western Christian influence.
In the quarter century since 1850, half a million Chinese have left Hong Kong and Macau for North America, Southeast Asia and Australia. Behind them, local gangsters poisoned themselves, taking control of Chinatowns under shadow control.
In 1856, "civilized" Europeans (British, French) and Americans started the Second Opium War. After the capture of the capital of the Celestial Empire, in 1860, the Beijing Peace Treaty was signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade and allowed the use of the Chinese as a slave force of 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 company from Bombay, David Sassoon and Co., of the influential family of Sephardic Jews Sassoon.
Avadiy (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 having successfully taught 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" narcotization of the subjects of the Celestial Empire was successful. The number of drug addicts in the empire increased from 1842 to 1881. from 2 million to 120 million people. Every third inhabitant of China 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.
Based on the Hong Kong "Triad", the "Lodge of Loyalty and Harmony" alliance was created to assist the anti-Manchu forces in the colony. In the mid-1920s, with the coming 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 surrender of the Japanese, the administration of the colony carried out a large-scale war with 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 secret services of the Kuomintang party united the secret societies under their control into the "Union of Loyalty and Justice" headed by a Kuomintang general. Subsequently, the union was transformed into the 14K syndicate (according to one of the versions, by analogy with the former headquarters in Canton). This is one of the largest and most influential triads in Hong Kong, which in the 90s was considered the largest in the world, but due to persecution, it left Hong Kong. In 2010, this already international triad had 20 thousand members in its ranks 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 channels for the supply of heroin and opium from Southeast Asia to China, North America and Europe, is engaged in gambling, usury and money laundering, contract killings and other criminal activities.
Chinese triads control one of the world's three poles of drug trafficking, the so-called Golden Triangle opium, the other two - Afghan and Colombian - are under the "patronage" of the American intelligence services. In 1949, after the end of the civil war in China 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 United States and Taiwan.
A new story began during the American aggression against Vietnam. The brave American soldiers used the brothels of Hong Kong and Thailand for recreation and demanded heroin to raise their tone. And the Chinese triads met these wishes and switched from opium to the production of heroin.
The British colonial administration of Hong Kong struggled with the triads with varying degrees of success; Since the beginning of the policy of economic reform and opening up, the Chinese Communist government has wisely decided that it cannot be eradicated before the founding of the triad. Therefore, some trade unions and triads of Hong Kong were taken under the control of the special services. The largest triads Fuixing (60,000 members), 14K (20,000), Big Ring Brotherhood and others have strengthened ties with mainland Chinese groups, and the geography of their activities has spread to the whole world.
The 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 the World Cup matches in Brazil were arrested in a Macau hotel. total amount rates accepted both through calls and the Internet, amounted to over $645 million (!). Undoubtedly, neo-liberal globalization is successfully serving the Chinese triads.
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Members of the triads are linked by a traditional system of rituals, oaths, passwords, and recognize each other by many prearranged signals invisible to outsiders. To join the "brotherhood" you need not only to enlist the recommendation of a member of the triad with experience, but also to go through severe and dangerous trials, including participation in gangster operations. In triads great importance have tattoos. For example, a dragon means prosperity, nobility and power, a snake - wisdom and will, and an orchid - perfection, harmony and sophistication.
Members of the triads use their own slang, secret handshakes, gestures and signs, codes to designate ranks and positions in group hierarchies. Traditional Chinese numerology is used, originating from. Each triad has departments for protection, information (intelligence and counterintelligence), communications, recruitment and education.
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Over the course of their history, the Chinese triads have transformed from religious sects and secret societies (huidangs) opposed to the authorities into criminal syndicates that have spread throughout the world. Where there is a Chinese diaspora, there are triads. For many centuries, secret societies have 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 reprisals 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 secret societies.
In the future, Chinese triads will continue to control migration flows. The more corrupt the country of residence, the more successful the triads will play the role of a shadow administration for the Chinese diaspora.
The geopolitical transformation of the world order is leading not only 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 the world 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 inhuman the opium wars of the 19th century against the Chinese people.
Probably, in the second half of the twenty-first century, an international tribunal for the crimes of the West against humanity will be established. Sooner or later, China will take revenge on the West for national disgrace.
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 South China, there was an organization "Tiandihui" (天地會, "Society of Heaven and Earth") or "Hongmen", from which came the "Sanhehui" (三合會, "Society of Three Concords", "Society of Three Harmonies" or "Society triads"), according to one version, founded at the end of the 17th century by fugitive Buddhist monks in the province of Fujian to fight the Manchus.
According to another version, the secret anti-Qing society "Tiandihui" was founded in the 60s of the 18th century in the Zhangzhou district of Fujian province, and soon spread its activities throughout China. In order to increase their authority in the eyes of the peasants, members of the Huidan created and cultivated the myth that the origins of the Tiandihui were five monks who escaped the destruction of the Shaolin monastery by the Manchus and swore 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 ritually called the "Five Ancestors", recreated the triad and began to teach the youth martial ear.
Several smaller groups separated from the Tiandihui, including the Sanhehui. This society took an equilateral triangle as its coat of arms, embodying the basic Chinese concept of "heaven - earth - man", into which the hieroglyph "han", images of swords or a portrait of the commander Guan Yu are usually entered (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 of Hong Kong due to the use of the triangle symbol by the society, and from their submission became synonymous with Chinese organized crime. Anti-Qing secret societies also formed from other religious sects. For example, the secret societies Huanglonghui (Yellow Dragon), Huangshahui (Yellow Sand), Hongshahui (Red Sand), Zhenuhui ("True martial art”), “Dadaohui” (“Big Swords”), “Xiaodaohui” (“Small Swords”), “Guandihui” (“Ruler of Guandi”), “Laomuhui” (“Old Mother”), “Heijiaohui” (“Black Peaks ”), “Hongqiaohui” (“Red Peaks”), “Baiqiaohui” (“White Peaks”), “Dashenghui” (“Great Sage”), “Hundenghui” (“Red Lanterns”). Although the Chinese authorities banned the smoking of opium as early as 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). AT late XVIII century, Hong Kong turned into a camp of a powerful pirate army led by Zhang Baoji, who 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 engulfed the provinces of Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan and Gansu, Chinese and Manchu feudal lords executed over 20 thousand members of the Bailyanjiao sect. After another repression by the authorities, one of the surviving leaders of the "Baguajiao" ("Teaching of the Eight Trigrams") sect Guo Zheqing fled to Guangdong, where he founded a new Buddhist sect "Houtian Bagua" and began to teach wushu to his followers. The merchant Ko Laihuang, also forced to flee from the persecution of the Manchus, brought the "Tiandihui" tradition to Siam and Malaya.
By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, a powerful drug mafia had already developed in Guangdong province with connections at the very top (the governor and head of the Guangdong maritime customs covered 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 reached 2.4 thousand tons. The British delivered opium to storage ships off the coast of Guangdong. The junks of local bigwigs and pirates transported the drug to Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and the port of Tianjin, and from there opium dispersed throughout the country (corruption reached such a scale that even Chinese customs ships and the navy transported the drug).
A European, who took the Chinese name Lu Dongjiu, led a detachment of several thousand Chinese who, since 1848, attacked only English ships. By the spring of 1849, Qiu Yabao assembled a new flotilla of 13 junks, but in March 1850 the British again defeated him in Dapengwan Bay. In the autumn of 1849, the Sapynchay fleet was also defeated (64 junks and 3.2 thousand fighters). In 1849, the Chinese population of Hong Kong exceeded 30 thousand people (construction workers, servants in the houses of Europeans, boatmen and small traders predominated among them). The Chinese united in fraternities and guilds, and secret societies began to play the role of shadow administration among them (ancestral temples served as centers of compatriots). In Hong Kong, the traditional system of “adopted daughters” (mozi) was extremely widespread, when poor families sold girls into service, and underground syndicates took children to Singapore, Australia, San Francisco, where they sold them to brothels.
Second half of the 19th century
Among recent immigrants from China, other secret societies were also influential. Thus, the majority of immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian belonged to the members of "Sanhehui", from Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Sichuan - to "Gelaohui", from Shanghai - to "Qingbang" and "Hongbang", from Anhui, Henan and Shandong - to " Dadaohui", from Zhili (Hebei) and Beijing - to "Zailihui". But not everyone was able to remain faithful to the old Huidangs in the new place for a long time. 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 Sanhehui Huidang or emigrated. In 1887, a law was passed in Hong Kong to combat opium smuggling, but tax-farmers still continued to illegally export the drug to China, establishing links with pirates and officials. By 1891, about 17% of Hong Kong's Chinese population used opium. In May 1894, the homeowners, together with the leadership of the Huidangs, organized another coolie strike in the colony. In 1894, a plague epidemic claimed 2.5 thousand lives, the British authorities demolished several Chinatowns and burned down some of the houses, as a result of which 80 thousand people left homeless were forced to leave the colony (in 1895, the entire population of Hong Kong was 240 thousand people). Human). In April 1899, the inhabitants of the "New Territories", under the leadership of the elders of the Dan clan, the largest landowners of 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 between the revolutionaries and representatives of the anti-Qing secret societies. So, at the end of 1899, in Hong Kong, a meeting was held between leaders of the Xinzhonghui (Chinese Revival Union) founded by Sun Yatsen and representatives of the largest Huidans - the Gelaohui (Elder Brothers Society), Qingbang, Hongbang and Sanhehui. ". Revolutionaries and members of secret societies made an alliance, and some Xinzhonghui figures received high positions in the Huidangs, for example, Sun Yat-sen's friend Chen Shaobo joined the Triad, becoming the head of financial management(he was also accepted into the highest hierarchy of the Galaohui society). On the basis of the Hong Kong Triad, the Zhonghetang (Loyalty and Harmony Lodge) alliance was created to assist the 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 took shape in Hong Kong, which became an influential force in the economy of the colony. At the same time, the secret society "Sanhehui", which already occupied a strong position in Hong Kong and Guangdong province, began to actively penetrate the environment of Chinese entrepreneurs.
First half of the 20th century
Fellowships, often closely associated with secret societies, created schools for their countrymen, published newspapers, raised funds among the rich 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 medicines from Hong Kong. By 1941, the Japanese had established their own residency in Hong Kong, with which many members of the Huidangs actively worked. Chen Liangbo, a major financier, chairman of the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and comprador of Huifeng (HSBC), Chen Liangbo, was even arrested for spying for the Japanese.
The most powerful during the years of Japanese occupation, the Guangdong and Fujian mafias divided the city into spheres of influence, controlled the black food market, many streets, collecting tribute from merchants and passers-by. Members of the Huidangs, who collaborated with the Japanese police, kept brothels (only in the Wanchai area there were about five hundred of them), opium censers (drugs were delivered by Japanese military aircraft from North 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, Hong Kong flooded new wave refugees. From 1950 to 1950, the population of the colony increased from 1.75 million to 2.23 million people (at the end of 1949, an average of about 10 thousand refugees a week arrived in Hong Kong from China). 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 slums of Kowloon, about 20 thousand more people were on the street. The Chinese refugee camps that arose in Hong Kong fell under the control of the mafia, and the system of illegal sale of children became widespread. The activated gangsters and pirates hunted by robbing warehouses and shops, attacking fishing junks and passenger ships, and racketeering entrepreneurs. In 1947, the Hong Kong government's campaign against the Huidang 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 which were flogged). In September 1949, the Kuomintang assassinated 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 (“Feast of the Two Tens”), members of the “14K” and Taiwanese agents provoked demonstrations in Kowloon that turned into pogroms of left-wing trade unions, trading firms and shops selling goods from China, arson of cars, robberies private houses, industrial enterprises and clinics. Initially, until the unrest turned into riots (especially in the Chungwan region in the "New Territories"), the British authorities preferred not to intervene in the conflict. Yet the army had to use force to disperse the demonstrators, and the police had to shelter the surviving communists and other leftists. As a result of the riots, hundreds of people were killed, but according to the official version, about 60 people died and more than 500 were injured. The Hong Kong authorities detained more than 5 thousand people during the week, and soon took strict measures that pacified the activity of local triads for some time. By 1958, about 15% of the inhabitants of the colony were members of the Huidan (before the war - only 8-9%); they committed more than 15% of all serious crimes. The resolute struggle of the authorities against opium-smokers led in the late 1950s to an ever wider spread of heroin on the streets. In addition, Hong Kong has begun to turn into a hub for heroin smuggling in
The history of Chinese triads goes back almost 2,500 years. The triad is a traditional form of criminal society that has existed in China since the 2nd century BC. e. and up to our days. The first mention of triads in the Chinese chronicle appeared during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC), when small groups of pirates and slave traders decided to unite into three large communities called “Shadow of the Lotus”.
According to researchers, the mafia of China borrowed its name from the sacred symbol of the Chinese society “heaven, earth, man”, which form a symbolic triangle. Finally, this name was 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, who left for provisions. Returning, the trinity saw only flaming ruins and the dead bodies of their comrades. It was these three monks who founded the first "triad" - "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, on which weapons were bought for the detachments of the “triad” partisans who fought against the invader Manchus. After the monks died, their followers were given power over an organization held together by iron discipline, unquestioning obedience, and supporters ready to obey any order. However, the new leaders of the “triad” instead of guerrilla warfare preferred to engage in slave trade, piracy, illegal gold mining and racketeering, arguing that the financial resources obtained by society are not enough to fight the Manchus. It was then that the “triad” became the mafia.
Today, Chinese gangs, "Tongs" (US organized gangs, consisting mainly of ethnic Chinese and immigrants from the PRC) and "triads" rank second among the world's criminal groups 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 the Chinese communities of 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 1980s, among ethnic Chinese organized crime, there has been a high growth in the number of cohesive, highly organized underground-type formations that do not allow outside penetration.
Close to the Chinese "triads" in terms of organization model is the Vietnamese mafia, nicknamed the "snake". In structure, it really resembles a snake, since the principle of transnational activity is as follows: first, a “head” appears, establishing contacts with powerful national structures, then the main forces are slowly drawn up – the endless “body” of the snake. Inside the group, a rigid hierarchy, iron discipline and total control over each member of the community are established. Modern triads are mainly of a transnational nature of activity, they are closely connected with ethnic diasporas of emigrants in European, Asian and American countries. For example, in the United States, Chinese "Tongs" and mixed Chinese-Vietnamese groups are active.
Traditionally, the triad organization model is a rigidly 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). In his submission are four ranks of leaders responsible for various specific aspects of the organization's activities, and ordinary members.
The second position is occupied by the leaders of individual organizations or a number of them, included in the triad, called “fu shan shu”, and a special person “sing fung”, who leads the recruitment of new members.
The third position is occupied by enforcers, militants - “hung kwan”, who lead the operational groups of triads.
There is a special position for interfacing with other criminal communities and organizations - “sho hai”, as well as an expert in administrative and financial matters“pak tse sin”, which are respectively in the fifth and fourth positions.
At the very bottom, in the sixth position, 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 leads the society of triads in a particular city or on geographical area, called “489″;
hung kwan enforcers - 426; “sho hi”,
responsible for relations with other criminal groups - 432; a
administrative and financial expert - 415.
Simple members that do not have ranks are called the two-digit number "49".
The ruling elite is a kind of “think tank” that determines the direction and nature of the activities of the “triads”. In fact, the latter are feudal-patronymic organizations, the leaders of which have unlimited supreme power. Relatively large organizations are divided into separate detachments with their own names.
Each of the members of such a brotherhood, depending on age, belongs either to a large or to a small detachment and obeys the orders and orders of his commander. When determining the model for organizing the transnational criminal activity 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 agree on the degree of organization of the “triads”. This happens because in the presence of a strictly formalized structure of the management level, the executive links that carry out direct criminal activity operate within the framework of a flexible network system that can change depending on one or another ongoing criminal operation.
So perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they are like college alumni associations. Membership in the "triad" means the expression of a certain degree of trust, and its members form a single working team, designed to help other members, even strangers. Therefore, although the "triads" have a certain formal structure, a significant part of their criminal activity, as a rule, is carried out by those members who are involved on a case-by-case basis within a flexible network system that can change as needed. The Triads are involved in many types of transnational criminal activity, including extortion, drug trafficking, illegal migration, prostitution, gambling, arms trafficking, racketeering and protection for local businessmen.
As law enforcement officers of the PRC testify, the “triads” conduct their business and bookkeeping very severely. So, at the end of each month, tax inspectors of the “triads” come to the Chinese merchants, who check the documents on profits in order to take away the 15 percent due to the mafia. At the slightest attempt to deceive the “triad”, cruel punishment immediately follows. On the same night, the businessman who decides to spend will be killed, and his store will be burned.
Today, the 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 the Chinese "triads". However, another paradoxical phenomenon in the history of Chinese organized crime is that the “triads” have long become part of criminal Russia- the mafia from China controls the export of forests cut down in Primorye, holds 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 evolved in a very peculiar and unusual way. As you know, power in the “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 daughters of mafia bosses to lead the “triads”, including the famous pirate captain, Madame Lily Wong, who, after the Second World War, with the help of flotillas of combat boats commanded by mercenaries from former officers The SS ravaged the entire Malayan coast for nearly a decade.
At the same time, history knows other examples when Chinese mafiosi took the side of the people. For example, during the period of the liberation struggle against the Japanese invaders. Historians note such a striking historical fact that the “triads” have existed for as long as China itself has existed.
The tyrant-emperors failed to destroy the "triads" for two millennia. And the rigid authoritarian power of the People's Republic of China over the past 50 years has not even managed to slightly shake the power of the mafia. However, such attempts were nevertheless made by the Chinese comrades. At the very beginning of the reign of Mao Zedong, the Chinese communists decided to solve the problem radically - they shot the leaders of the main mafia groups.
However, repression did not help. Their sons immediately stood at the head of the gangs. Before they had time to put them 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, the “triads” have accumulated a unique experience of confronting law enforcement agencies. According to many veterans of the Chinese police, even if all their leaders are jailed, not a single screw in the “triad” mechanism will fail.
Nowadays, on the streets of Beijing and other cities, one can often meet athletically built young people with a blank look and colored tattoos on their arms depicting a skull, a dragon and a cobra. These are representatives of the modern "triads" of China, who, along with the police, keep order on the city streets. Such an interest of the “triads” in maintaining law and order is explained by the fact that today the elite of the Chinese mafia is closely following the policy of the Chinese leadership and in some way (however paradoxical it may sound) supports it. For example, “triads” never rob foreign tourists in China, because since 2002, China has been proclaimed the 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 life principles of the Chinese says: "Take your time, sit down and think." The Chinese mafia thinks through everything and plans for many years to come, it does not live for today. Having established a company, founded a restaurant, opened a store, the mafiosi are not going to make a huge profit in a month: they have been waiting for this for years. There is no point in rushing somewhere if the work begun is right. It is in patience that the “triads” differ from the current “shadow bosses” of the CIS, who usually need everything at once.
In addition, the “triads”, paradoxically, are trying to strengthen the Chinese economy. Unlike the Russian "Solntsevo" or "Podolsk" organized crime groups that launder money in offshore companies in Cyprus, Chinese mafiosi even transfer the currency "earned" in the United States from the sale of heroin back to China. Dollars from the racketeering of Chinese restaurant owners in Europe, from arms smuggling into Africa, from piracy in south seas- are also transported by couriers to China: it is not customary to put them on accounts in Switzerland. It's just that Chinese criminals 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 petty officials - they do not have 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 cannot influence a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. And although from time to time both police officers and petty officials fly out of their places for “connections with crime,” the official government does not recognize that the “triads” have agents in its ranks, and the mafia prudently does not confirm this. One thing is clear - the organized mafia in China, no matter how they tried to destroy it, survived both the empire and the republic. There is no doubt - if necessary, she will outlive the communists.