Chinese Organized Crime Research Articles

Особенности преступной активности китайской мафии в Восточной Сибири

The mythology and typology of Chinese organized crime, which engages in active illegal activities within the region, are explored through a historical and cultural context. The characteristics of the formation, hierarchy, and behavior of these criminal groups are examined. The methods by which Chinese citizens illegally enter the East Siberian region are highlighted. The criminal infra-structure established to serve the interests of Chinese organized crime is analyzed in detail, as well as the methods used to con-ceal their true objectives and intentions. The means of recruiting individuals into the sphere of influence of the Chinese mafia, the establishment of control over Russian and Chinese citizens to achieve their goals, and the mechanisms for acquiring, distrib-uting, and controlling large financial flows by the Chinese mafia are described. Based on the provided description, conclusions are drawn regarding the primary activities of Chinese organized crime groups in the region. It is noted that the current level of law enforcement response is insufficient. The conclusion includes a list of recommendations for counteracting this type of crime.

Chinese organized crime and the illegal wildlife trade: diversification and outsourcing in the Golden Triangle

The illegal wildlife trade has increasingly been linked to organized crime in recent years. In particular, Chinese crime groups seem to be major players in more organized forms of this trade. This article examines the involvement of Chinese organized crime groups in the trade of wildlife in the borderlands of the Golden Triangle. We will discuss the representation of Chinese crime groups in the illegal wildlife trade by looking at: a) the diversification of these crime groups into wildlife crimes and b) the outsourcing of activities to local opportunistic crime groups in neighboring Laos and Myanmar. We conclude that the different representations of Chinese crime groups overseas involved in the illegal wildlife trade are important in order to understand the roles of diversification and outsourcing.

Enduring Menace: The Triad Societies of Southeast China

Since the 1980s, Hong Kong triad societies have evolved from hierarchical, pyramidal organizations to loose, compartmentalized syndicates that retain a modicum of hierarchy. Changes in triad organization and modus operandi occurred in response to stringent anti-organized crime measures enacted in Hong Kong. However, organizational evolution has facilitated triad transplantation to China and improved triads’ ability to engage in transnational crime. Triads have exploited favorable circumstances in China: prevalent corruption, rapid urbanization, and high demand for illicit goods and services. This paper includes two case studies of the Sun Yee On triad. The first examines Sun Yee On's localized activity by tracing the evolution of one Shenzhen area chapter. The second case study examines Sun Yee On's role as a supplier of methamphetamine precursor chemicals to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel. Sun Yee On exemplifies how modern triads have become hybridized, assuming attributes of both local Chinese organized crime and transnational criminal networks.

Chinese Organized Crime in Italy

Using the specialize literature on organized crime, the first part of the article defines the main questions concerning Chinese criminal groups operating in Italy. The second takes into account the principal illegal markets in which these criminal players are involved, their internal connections, and their capability to infiltrate Chinese communities. The conclusions give insights to answering the following questions: Can Chinese organized crime be encompassed within Mafia type associations? Which forms of infiltration are used by criminal players within the context of the Chinese community?

La criminalità organizzata cinese in Italia

Using the specialize literature on organized crime, the first part of the article defines the main questions concerning Chinese criminal groups operating in Italy. The second takes into account the principal illegal markets in which these criminal players are involved, their internal connections, and their capability to infiltrate Chinese communities. The conclusions give insights to answering the following questions: Can Chinese organized crime be encompassed within Mafia type associations? Which forms of infiltration are used by criminal players within the context of the Chinese community?

The Dragon’s shadow: an introduction to the special issue on ‘Chinese organized crime’

This paper provides an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organized Crime bringing forward numerous empirical research findings and theoretical accounts on Chinese organized crime in China and beyond.

Taking loan sharking into account: a case study of Chinese vest-pocket lenders in Holland

Chinese organized crime has long been accused of playing an active role in the illicit usury world, except that there are no known empirical studies depicting how it is actually done. A rare opportunity arose when a Dutch police agency seized one set of financial records documenting detailed transactions of a loan shark working incognito inside a Dutch casino. A detailed analysis of these accounting records suggests that the Chinese loan sharks work with a wide range of clients, primarily Chinese but also non-Chinese. Exorbitant interests were levied on the loans and large volumes of cash were loaned out, with the vast majority accounts in good standing. The bookkeeping records revealed a rather smooth business transaction environment, where some customers were acquaintances from connected social networks, while others were not. Although the seized records left some questions unanswered, the case provided a rarepeek into a secretive financial world that has remained largely unknown to the research community.

Chinese organized crime and situational context: comparing human smuggling and synthetic drugs trafficking

This article criticizes the ‘ethnic’ conception of organized crime and puts forward an alternative view that does not put ethnicity first, but rather social networks and situational context. It focuses upon Chinese organized crime, a phenomenon where the preoccupation with ethnicity is paramount, and compares findings from extensive research into two different transnational criminal activities that are carried out by Chinese offenders in the Netherlands. The first topic, human smuggling, is well researched, whereas research into the second topic, trafficking in precursors (the basic ingredients for the production of synthetic drugs), is largely lacking. The article highlights the major theoretical and empirical similarities and differences between these two criminal activities and discusses the relevance of the main findings for theory and research.

Snakeheads, mules, and protective umbrellas: a review of current research on Chinese organized crime

China’s red-hot economy in recent decades has not only brought the country unprecedented wealth and political prominence in the world but also created ample opportunities for criminal enterprises to flourish. A review of recently published literature reveals that two types of transnational criminal activities – human smuggling and drug trafficking – received a fair amount of empirical attention in the research community. Other crimes, however, although carrying equally significant cross-national implications, have received scant attention. Thanks to a handful of empirical studies in recent years, the notion that traditional Chinese crime syndicates dominated transnational criminal activities has largely been dispelled. Most of those involved in transnational crimes (at least in human smuggling and drug trafficking) were found to be otherwise ordinary individuals who exploit their social or familial networks to take advantage of emerging opportunities. The criminal underworld in China appears to be growing along two separate tracks, with transnational organized crimes operating on one track and locally based criminal organizations on the other. Both groups of criminal entities are not known to cross paths in any systemic way. Research on Chinese organized crime (either locally based or transnational) has remained rather limited. Future research needs to emphasize empirical strategies to explore these and other pressing transnational criminal activities, as well as to solidify recent findings.

The prosecution of Chinese organized crime groups: the Sister Ping case and its lessons

This article analyzes the investigation and prosecution of contemporary Chinese criminal organizations through the study of one major human smuggling case: the trial of “Sister Ping.” Data were obtained from media reports, court documents, and from interviews with parties familiar with the case. It is argued that modern human smuggling groups such as the one run by Sister Ping are informal and decentralized organizations against which the RICO statute may be of little use.

ENTER THE DRAGON: INSIDE CHINESE HUMAN SMUGGLING ORGANIZATIONS*

This paper examines the inner workings of Chinese human smuggling organizations. Contrary to widely held conceptions about Chinese organized crime, most alien smugglers are otherwise ordinary citizens whose familial networks and fortuitous social contacts have enabled them to pool resources to transport human cargoes around the world. They come from diverse backgrounds and form temporary alliances to carry out smuggling operations. With the exception of a shared commitment to making money, little holds them together. The smuggling organizations mostly resemble ad hoc task forces and are assembled for specific operations. These organizations have clear divisions of labor with limited hierarchical structures. We discuss the theoretical implications of their unique organizational characteristics.

Chinese organized crime: a pathfinder

Provides some guidance on building a collection on Chinese organized crime ‐ first a definition of it and then details of some of the resources which could be included in a collection in the areas of: primary texts, general works, encyclopaedias and dictionaries, films, newspapers, periodicals and Web sites.

From tong war to organized crime: Revising the historical perception of violence in Chinatown*

An analysis of New York City press accounts and official documents from 1894 to 1908 challenges many assumptions about Chinese organized crime in the United States. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this analysis provides strong evidence that Chinese organized crime is neither “emerging” nor “nontraditional” and that it predates, in structure and sophistication, organizations of other ethnic origins later recognized as “modern” organized crime by academics, the media, and the government. A qualitative, document-based case study of the first “tong war” between the Hip Sing Tong and the On Leong Tong (1899–1907) shows that both organizations were heavily involved in a multiethnic social system of organized crime that extended across the United States and to China itself. The turn-of-the-century tongs were involved with police and political corruption, labor racketeering, price fixing, prostitution, gambling, immigrant smuggling, slavery, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. They are still associated with these activities.

The dragon breathes fire: Chinese organized crime in New York City

Although it is widely acknowledged that Chinese businesses are victims of extortion by Asian youth gangs, there is no reliable information to examine the patterns and social processes of the problem. This paper explores the structure of extortion and other forms of victimization based on surveys of (N=603) Chinese-owned businesses in three Chinatown neighborhoods in New York City. It focuses on the nature of Chinese crime groups, social contexts of gang extortion, social processes of victimization, and merchants' compliance or resistance to gang demands. Finally, the paper discusses the problems and prospects of Chinese criminality in America.