Triad (organized crime)

Triad
	Triad members arrested in Siam
Founded	1885
Named after	Union of Heaven, Earth and Water, Chinese mythology, and traditional folk religion customs
Founding location	China (Zhengzhou, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou)
Years active	19th century–present
Territory	China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, North America, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, South Africa and Russia
Ethnicity	Chinese
Activities	Extortion, protection, murder, assault, racketeering, human trafficking, sex trafficking, illegal gambling, loan sharking, counterfeiting, copyright infringement, kidnapping, robbery, Hong Kong film and music industries, drug trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking, health care fraud, immigration fraud

A triad (traditional Chinese: 三合會; simplified Chinese: 三合会; Jyutping: saam1 hap6 wui6; Cantonese Yale: sāam hahp wúi; pinyin: sān hé huì) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.

The triads originated from secret societies formed in the 18th and 19th centuries with the intent of overthrowing the then-ruling Qing dynasty. In 20th century, triads were enlisted by the Kuomintang (KMT) during the Republican era to assassinate political opponents and attack political enemies. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China and subsequent crackdowns, triads and their operations flourished in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities.^[9]

Since the Chinese economic reform, triads and other triad-like "black societies" re-emerged in mainland China.^[9]^[10] In modern times, triads overseas have been alleged to have connections to the government of the People's Republic of China.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

^ "Folha de S.Paulo - Máfia chinesa: Grupo fatura US$ 50 mil em 2 meses - 14/11/2001". www1.folha.uol.com.br. Archived from the original on 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
^ "Negado habeas corpus a acusado de integrar máfia chinesa em Pernambuco". www.stj.jus.br. Archived from the original on 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
^ "Comerciantes sofrem ameaças de máfia chinesa na região central de SP". R7.com. June 17, 2022. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
^ "Mafia china low cost: cayeron los "precios" de las extorsiones y ahora se pagan en pesos". infobae. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
^ "Rifles, municiones y granadas en operativos para detener a cuatro integrantes de la facción "A.C." de la mafia china". infobae. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-06-22.
^ "Cayó un presunto miembro de la Mafia China que extorsionaba a supermercados en Buenos Aires | Sucesos". La Voz del Interior. 23 October 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ "Un fost membru al mafiei chineze din România, condamnat pentru o crimă de un sadism extrem, este la un pas de libertate". 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "Hong Kong Triads and 'their' lucrative movie industry". gangstersinc.ning.com. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10.
^ ^a ^b Van Oudenaren, John S. (2014-07-03). "Enduring Menace: The Triad Societies of Southeast China". Asian Affairs: An American Review. 41 (3): 127–153. doi:10.1080/00927678.2014.936805. ISSN 0092-7678. JSTOR 44074552. S2CID 218621785.
^ Broadhurst, Roderic; Zhong, Lena Y. (2021-11-08), "Black societies and triad-like organized crime in China", The Routledge Handbook of Transnational Organized Crime (2 ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 162–179, doi:10.4324/9781003044703-12, ISBN 978-1-003-04470-3, S2CID 243900474
^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Rotella, Sebastian; Berg, Kirsten (October 11, 2022). "How a Chinese American Gangster Transformed Money Laundering for Drug Cartels". ProPublica. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
^ Cooper, Sam (2022-06-08). Wilful Blindness: How a network of narcos, tycoons and CCP agents infiltrated the West. Optimum Publishing International. ISBN 978-0-88890-330-3.

[1] "Folha de S.Paulo - Máfia chinesa: Grupo fatura US$ 50 mil em 2 meses - 14/11/2001". www1.folha.uol.com.br. Archived from the original on 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2022-06-22.

[2] "Negado habeas corpus a acusado de integrar máfia chinesa em Pernambuco". www.stj.jus.br. Archived from the original on 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2022-06-22.

[3] "Comerciantes sofrem ameaças de máfia chinesa na região central de SP". R7.com. June 17, 2022. Archived from the original on September 10, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2023.

[4] "Mafia china low cost: cayeron los "precios" de las extorsiones y ahora se pagan en pesos". infobae. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-06-22.

[5] "Rifles, municiones y granadas en operativos para detener a cuatro integrantes de la facción "A.C." de la mafia china". infobae. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2022-06-22.

[6] "Cayó un presunto miembro de la Mafia China que extorsionaba a supermercados en Buenos Aires | Sucesos". La Voz del Interior. 23 October 2021. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2022.

[7] "Un fost membru al mafiei chineze din România, condamnat pentru o crimă de un sadism extrem, este la un pas de libertate". 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[8] "Hong Kong Triads and 'their' lucrative movie industry". gangstersinc.ning.com. 24 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-08-10.

[:5-9] Van Oudenaren, John S. (2014-07-03). "Enduring Menace: The Triad Societies of Southeast China". Asian Affairs: An American Review. 41 (3): 127–153. doi:10.1080/00927678.2014.936805. ISSN 0092-7678. JSTOR 44074552. S2CID 218621785.

[10] Broadhurst, Roderic; Zhong, Lena Y. (2021-11-08), "Black societies and triad-like organized crime in China", The Routledge Handbook of Transnational Organized Crime (2 ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 162–179, doi:10.4324/9781003044703-12, ISBN 978-1-003-04470-3, S2CID 243900474

[:6-11] Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:2-12] Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:3-13] Rotella, Sebastian; Berg, Kirsten (October 11, 2022). "How a Chinese American Gangster Transformed Money Laundering for Drug Cartels". ProPublica. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.

[:4-14] Cooper, Sam (2022-06-08). Wilful Blindness: How a network of narcos, tycoons and CCP agents infiltrated the West. Optimum Publishing International. ISBN 978-0-88890-330-3.

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