Triad gang members arrested in Hong Kong police sweep

Unread post by **Christina Marie** » January 8th, 2007, 8:14 pm

Triad gang members arrested in Hong Kong police sweep

-from playfuls.com-

More than 100 suspected triad gang members including a boy aged 12 have been arrested in Hong Kong, police said Sunday.

Membership in a triad gang is a criminal offence in Hong Kong where the gangs, which run extortion, protection and prostitution rackets.

The gangs, which operate as secret societies, are reckoned to be responsible for around 3 per cent of overall crime in the city of 6.8 million.

Police rounded up the 101 suspected triad gang members Saturday as they gathered in the city’s Yuen Long district in an apparent display of support for a candidate in village elections.

The suspects were being detained by police early Sunday but none had been charged with any offences. No weapons or dangerous drugs were initially found on them during searches, police said.

Triad gangs, notorious for their brutality and common in overseas Chinese communities in the US and Taiwan as well as in Hong Kong, have seen their power bases weaken in recent years.

http://www.streetcode.org/2007/01/08/tr ... ice-swoop/