Gangs

The Triads, Yakuza, and Jopok

One of the largest transnational criminal groups is the Yakuza, also known in Japan as the Boryokudan or Ninkyo dantai (but almost always called the Yakuza or by the name of an individual syndicate in the United States). Like the Mafia and other organized crime groups, the Yakuza are not a single organization but a system of affiliated syndicates, which are sometimes allied and sometimes at odds over territory. They developed sometime in the Edo period (1603–1868) and have spread throughout the world, especially where there are large Japanese populations.

The Yakuza are particularly known for the complexity of their organizational structure, which includes a number of specific hierarchical positions and a rigid chain of command. Yakuza groups divide territory geographically, with various groups of both enforcers and advisors working for different saiko-komon (senior advisors, or local crime bosses). Tattoos have ritual significance to them but are normally concealed from public view.

Despite their portrayal in popular culture, the Yakuza in the United States are active mainly in Hawai‘i, which they use as a way station for smuggling goods into Japan. Their presence on the mainland is small though not negligible; in California, they have many important alliances with the Chinese triads and local Asian American gangs and have often used Asian American street gangs to protect their business interests or to sell drugs the Yakuza bring into the country. The United States is also used to launder Yakuza money.

Triads are organized crime organizations in China, Taiwan, and the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: Hong Kong and Macau. Like the Yakuza, they are known for their secrecy and rituals, and they are as much a secret society as a criminal group. [Page 399]Triads often work with street gangs or have a dual existence as secret society and gang, in which case not all gang members will actually be members of the triad who have been through the initiation. Frequently, triads based in Asia ally themselves with Chinese or Asian American street gangs who become, in essence, their local chapter.

The Four Seas triad, based in Taiwan, has a number of American constituent cells, some of which are full members of the triad and others of which are simple street gangs. The Four Seas are involved in human trafficking and illegal immigration in the California Taiwanese and Chinese communities.

Taiwan's largest triad is the United Bamboo Gang (UBG), which has been active in California. Notably, in 1984, UBG members Tung Kuei-sen and Wu Tun and boss Chen Chi-Li were responsible for the murder of Taiwanese writer and journalist Henry Liu, who had moved to the United States and become a naturalized citizen. A vocal critic of the Taiwanese government, Liu was shot to death in his California home in 1984 by the UBG members, allegedly hired by the government.

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