The Triads As Business

The triads are an important, sophisticated and international criminal force, involved in protection, drugs, gambling, prostitution, human smuggling and other forms of organized crime. This book presents a systematic overview of the triads and their activities. It shows how, since the handover of Hong Kong to China, there have been increasing fears that the influence of the triads will spread to the West through emigration. This new edition builds on the first edition, which was published in 2000 and which covered the period up to 1997. The new edition updates the information to the present, and covers a number of additional areas of triad activity.

1. Triads, Business and Market Part 1 The Triads 2. The Origins 3. The Organization Part 2 Legal Markets 4. Protection Against Extortionists 5. Protection Against Competitors: Traditional Operations 6. Protection Against Competitors: Recent Operations 7. Dispute Settlement Part 3 Illegal Markets 8. Drug Dealing 9. Gambling 10. Prostitution Part 4 International Markets 11. Drug Trafficking 12. Human Smuggling 13. Economic Organized Crime Part 5 Implications and Reflections 14. Are Triads Extortionists, Entrepreneurs, or Protectors? 15. International Triad Movement: Emigration or Reversion? New Directions in the Study of Triads