Up next in 10
In the heart of Hong Kong, there is a shadow government that has survived empires, wars, and revolutions—this is the story of the Triads.
We are peeling back the neon layers of Hong Kong to reveal the ancient machinery of the 14K, Sun Yee On, and Wo Shing Wo. This episode exposes the transition from 17th-century patriot warriors to the ruthless global syndicates of today. We investigate the lawless days of the Kowloon Walled City, the terrifying infiltration of the film industry, and the blood oaths that bind members for life.
You’ll discover the truth about the "Five Hundred Million Dollar Sergeant," the horrific "Lobster Dinner" execution that shocked the elite, and how the Triads managed to move their empires to Vancouver and Sydney right under the nose of international intelligence.
Based on declassified colonial police reports, historical archives of the Kowloon Walled City, and court testimonies from the 14K trials.
If you want the full, cinematic story of the groups behind these secrets, check out our 100-episode master series on our main channel, Global Mafia Universe. The link is in the description. Go deep.
Do you think the Triads are still pulling the strings in the modern era, or have they been absorbed by political powers? Tell us your theory below.
Asian Crime — S01 E01 : Triads of Hong Kong: Secret Societies
HASHTAGS:#Triads #HongKong #14K #SunYeeOn #TrueCrime #KowloonWalledCity #Underworld #MafiaHistory #Documentary #AsianCrime
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0:00
The air inside that temple basement, you
0:03
could just taste it heavy. It smelled of
0:05
burning sandalwood, roasted pork, and
0:08
something else. Something metallic, iron
0:11
rich. It's a humid night, 1970s cowoon.
0:15
A young man stripped to the waist,
0:17
kneels on a cold stone floor. A blade,
0:20
just the tip of it, resting against his
0:22
throat. He's not being mugged. Not in
0:24
the way you'd think. He's being born.
0:27
Born into what, Daniel? This sounds
0:29
incredibly intense.
0:31
Born into the brotherhood. He recites
0:33
the 36 oaths. Oaths of loyalty, of
0:37
silence, of blood. If I betray my
0:39
brothers, may I die by five
0:41
thunderbolts. If I hide money from the
0:44
family, may I be hacked into 10,000
0:47
pieces. And then the ritual culminates.
0:50
He bites the head off a live rooster,
0:52
mixes its blood with wine, and drinks
0:54
it. In that moment, he ceases to be just
0:57
a citizen of Hong Kong. He becomes a
1:00
49er, a foot soldier in an army that
1:03
answers to no government.
1:04
It's chilling, isn't it? You see the
1:06
neon lights of Hong Kong in travel
1:08
brochures, the glittering skyscrapers,
1:11
but you don't see the foundation. You
1:13
don't see the billions of dollars
1:15
flowing through the veins of that city
1:17
like black oil. That's what we're
1:19
talking about today. The Triads, the
1:21
14K, the Sunon, the Wo Shing Wo. These
1:25
aren't just gangs. They are ancient
1:27
secret societies that mutated into
1:29
multinational corporations.
1:32
Absolutely, Lily. For 50 years, if you
1:34
wanted to drive a bus, sell a fish, or
1:37
even build a building in Hong Kong, you
1:39
paid a tax to the dragon head. Today,
1:42
we're opening the vault. These are the
1:44
secrets they thought were buried
1:45
forever.
1:46
So, like the mafia, right? That's
1:48
usually the first comparison people make
1:50
when they hear secret society and crime.
1:53
That's a common but honestly dangerous
1:55
underestimation, Jesse. The mafia is a
1:58
criminal organization, pure and simple.
2:00
The triads, though, they started as
2:02
something entirely different. They began
2:04
in the 17th century as the Chiande, the
2:07
Heaven and Earth Society. Their goal was
2:09
noble. Overthrow theQing invaders and
2:12
restore the Ming dynasty. They were
2:14
revolutionaries, patriots even,
2:16
right? a freedom fighting movement. But
2:18
when that revolution failed, those
2:20
soldiers didn't just go home and become
2:22
farmers. They went underground. They
2:25
kept the rituals, the hand signs, the
2:28
blood oaths, but they lost the cause.
2:30
Without a war to fight, they turned
2:32
their swords into profit. By the 20th
2:35
century, the patriotism was just a
2:36
rapper, a very elaborate one for one of
2:39
the most ruthless criminal enterprises
2:41
on earth.
2:42
So, a good intention twisted. That's a
2:44
powerful transformation. Did anyone try
2:47
to stop them?
2:48
Oh, everyone tried. The British colonial
2:50
government tried to ban them. They
2:52
failed. The Japanese invaders tried to
2:54
crush them during the war. They failed.
2:56
Why? Because you can't kill an idea. And
2:59
you certainly can't kill an idea that
3:01
generates $3 billion a year just in
3:04
heroin trade. We've actually secured
3:06
access to some incredible colonial
3:08
police intelligence reports and even
3:10
internal Brotherhood ledgers. We're
3:12
going to show you exactly how they
3:14
turned a tiny rock in the South China
3:15
Sea into the headquarters of global
3:17
crime.
3:18
And the first monumental testament to
3:20
their power, to this parallel system
3:22
you're talking about, has to be the
3:24
cowoon walled city. It was in essence a
3:27
fortress of darkness.
3:29
The walled city. I've seen pictures, but
3:32
it's hard to really grasp what it was
3:34
like. Just a single city block, right?
3:36
Imagine a single city block, Jesse. Now
3:39
pack 50,000 people into it and then
3:42
build the building so close together, so
3:44
tall that sunlight literally never
3:46
touches the ground. No laws, no police,
3:49
no taxes. This was the walled city, a
3:52
geopolitical glitch. Technically, it was
3:55
Chinese territory inside a British
3:57
colony. So neither side claimed
3:59
jurisdiction. It became the triad's
4:01
sovereign state. It was this bizarre,
4:03
unregulated paradise for crime. Inside
4:07
those dripping, ratinfested alleyways,
4:09
the triads ran the world's most
4:11
efficient opium dens. But that wasn't
4:13
even the real money. The real money was
4:16
the unlicensed businesses, dentist
4:18
clinics, sweat shops, fishball
4:21
factories, all unlicensed, all untaxed,
4:25
all protected by the triads.
4:27
So, a one-stop shop for everything
4:29
illegal and unregulated. That's wild.
4:32
Pretty much if you walked into the
4:34
walled city in 1980, you could buy a
4:36
bowl of noodles, a gram of heroin, and a
4:39
hitman in the same hour. The police
4:41
didn't dare enter. When they finally
4:43
tore it down in 1993, they found
4:46
intricate tunnel systems connecting the
4:47
buildings, escape routes, stash houses.
4:50
It was a physical monument to their
4:52
power. They proved that if the
4:54
government leaves a vacuum, the
4:56
underworld will fill it with concrete.
4:58
And that vacuum wasn't just physical. It
5:00
was institutional. What happened next
5:02
takes their influence to an entirely
5:04
different level. The 14K Civil War.
5:08
14K. I've heard that name before. What
5:11
does it even mean?
5:12
14K isn't just a cool label. It stands
5:15
for the address of their headquarters in
5:17
Canton, number 14, and the K for
5:20
Quuomoang. This group was founded by a
5:22
nationalist general, Katsu Wong. These
5:25
weren't just street thugs. These were
5:27
trained soldiers fleeing the communist
5:28
takeover in mainland China.
5:30
Exactly. So when they hit Hong Kong in
5:33
the 1950s, they didn't act like
5:35
criminals. They acted like an invading
5:37
army. In 1956, they sparked the infamous
5:41
Double 10 riots. It wasn't a gang fight.
5:44
It was urban warfare. They burned
5:46
factories. They flipped buses. They took
5:49
over entire districts. The British
5:51
government had to call in the military
5:53
to suppress them.
5:54
The military? That's not a gang. That's
5:56
an insurgency.
5:57
Precisely. And these files reveal the
6:00
frightening truth. The 14K had more
6:02
combat experience than the police force.
6:04
They organized locally, but they struck
6:06
globally. By the 70s, they were the
6:09
primary suppliers of heroin to the
6:10
Netherlands and the UK. They used the
6:13
diaspora. You know, every Chinatown in
6:15
Europe became a franchise. While the
6:17
Italian mafia was obsessed with New
6:19
York, the 14K was silently conquering
6:22
the world, one restaurant basement at a
6:24
time.
6:25
It paints a picture of a truly
6:26
sophisticated, almost invisible network.
6:29
But the influence of the Triads wasn't
6:31
just in controlling illegal territories
6:33
or global drug routes. It permeated the
6:36
very institutions meant to stop them.
6:38
Which brings us to the era of the $500
6:41
million sergeant.
6:42
Wait, $500 million for a sergeant? This
6:47
is the file the Hong Kong police
6:48
absolutely do not want you to see,
6:50
Jesse. In the 1960s and 70s, the police
6:53
didn't just fight the triads. They were
6:56
in many cases the triads. The corruption
6:58
went all the way to the top. Meet Louis
7:01
Lockach, the Lgore, the chief Chinese
7:03
detective. He was supposed to be the
7:05
law. Instead, he was the CEO of crime.
7:08
He literally standardized bribery. No
7:11
more random shakedowns. No more pay me
7:13
what you think it's worth. Louis Lock
7:15
set up a payment schedule. Every
7:17
gambling den, every brothel, every opium
7:20
stall paid a fixed monthly fee to the
7:22
police. The police collected the money,
7:25
kept their share, and distributed the
7:27
rest to the government officials. It was
7:29
a perfectly managed, perfectly corrupt
7:32
ecosystem.
7:33
So, crime wasn't stopped, it was just
7:35
regulated by the police. That's
7:37
mind-boggling.
7:38
Exactly. Crime was managed, not stopped.
7:41
If a triad member stepped out of line
7:43
and caused visible trouble, Louis lock
7:45
would hand him over to the British
7:47
officers to keep up appearances. Louis
7:49
Lockach retired with an estimated
7:51
fortune of 500 million Hong Kong
7:53
dollars. He fled to Canada, then Taiwan,
7:56
living like a king until he died. He
7:58
proved that the badge is just another
8:00
tool for the highest bidder. And the
8:02
reach of their influence wasn't just the
8:04
police. It extended into the cultural
8:06
fabric, particularly the silver screen.
8:09
Think Golden Harvest days, the 80s and
8:12
90s when Hong Kong cinema was exploding.
8:15
Oh, Jackie Chan, Jet Lee, John Woo. I
8:18
love those movies. What about them?
8:20
Behind the camera, Jesse, the producers
8:22
were often dragon heads. The Sunan
8:24
cartel, for instance, realized that
8:27
movies were the ultimate moneyaundering
8:28
machine. You have $10 million of dirty
8:31
heroin cash finance a movie. Who knows
8:34
how much the set cost? Who knows how
8:36
many extras you paid? You declare the
8:38
movie a hit. Fake the box office numbers
8:40
by buying your own tickets and boom,
8:42
clean money.
8:43
But it got ugly fast. Actors were
8:46
literally forced to star in films at
8:48
gunpoint. Famous actresses were
8:50
kidnapped and photographed in
8:51
compromising positions to blackmail them
8:54
into working for free. A top star,
8:56
Karina Laauo, was abducted in 1990
8:59
because she refused a role. They
9:01
vanished her for hours. This wasn't
9:04
Hollywood drama. This was slavery with a
9:06
red carpet. They controlled the cultural
9:08
export of an entire nation.
9:10
That's horrifying. I had no idea that
9:13
was happening behind the scenes of those
9:15
films I grew up watching.
9:16
It's a dark chapter for sure. And while
9:18
these external threats were happening,
9:20
things were also changing internally.
9:23
Let's talk about the lobster dinner
9:24
execution. August 2009. The leader of
9:28
the Wo Shing Wo, known as Lee Boy, is
9:30
enjoying a meal at the Shangrla Hotel.
9:32
High society. Five stars. Security
9:35
everywhere. Sounds safe, right?
9:37
Clearly not. A van pulls up. Three men
9:40
jump out with machetes. They don't shoot
9:43
him. They chop him down right in the
9:44
hotel driveway. In front of the dormen,
9:47
in front of the tourists. This was a
9:50
brutal public message to the new
9:51
generation. The old codes were breaking
9:54
down. The discipline of the 36 oaths was
9:57
being replaced by chaos.
9:58
Machetes in a five-star hotel driveway.
10:01
That's almost theatrical in its
10:03
violence.
10:03
It was meant to be. The Lee boy hit
10:06
revealed a major fracture in the
10:07
underworld. The triads were splitting.
10:09
The old guard wanted business and
10:11
politics. The Young Turks wanted cocaine
10:13
and raw violence. This internal war
10:16
spilled blood on the streets of Sim
10:17
Shhatsui and Mongok, forcing the police
10:20
to launch massive crackdowns. But you
10:22
can't arrest a hydra. You cut off one
10:24
head and three more teenagers with
10:26
cleavers take its place. And the Hydra
10:29
continued to evolve and adapt, even
10:32
weaponizing itself politically. Which
10:34
brings us to a much more recent and
10:36
frankly disturbing event. The White
10:39
Shirt Terror, July 21, 2019, UN Long MTR
10:44
station. This isn't history. This is
10:47
practically yesterday.
10:48
I remember hearing about this. The
10:50
pro-democracy protests, right?
10:52
Exactly. During those protests, a mob of
10:55
men in white shirts stormed the train
10:57
station. They were armed with rattan
10:59
sticks and metal poles. And here's the
11:01
kicker. They didn't attack the police.
11:04
They attacked the commuters, pregnant
11:06
women, journalists, protesters returning
11:08
home. They beat them mercilessly for 45
11:11
minutes. And the police, the police were
11:13
nowhere to be seen. When they finally
11:15
arrived, the white shirts had simply
11:17
walked away.
11:18
This event known as 7:21 exposed the
11:21
darkest secret of all. The triads can be
11:24
weaponized by political forces. They
11:26
serve as the patriotic muscle when the
11:28
government doesn't want to get its hands
11:30
dirty. It was the return of the Tiandi
11:32
origin story, but twisted. They weren't
11:35
fighting for the people anymore. They
11:37
were fighting for power. The line
11:39
between the criminal and the state had
11:41
vanished completely.
11:43
That's terrifying to think that these
11:45
secret societies are still so deeply
11:47
entrenched and can be used like that.
11:49
It is. But hold that thought because
11:52
number seven truly changes everything.
11:54
The final secret is the exodus, the 1997
11:57
handover. When Britain returned Hong
11:59
Kong to China, the world thought the
12:01
triads would be crushed by the Communist
12:03
Party. The dragon heads were terrified.
12:06
They liquidated assets. They moved
12:08
billions to Vancouver, Sydney, and
12:09
London.
12:10
It was the ultimate test of their
12:11
adaptability. And they didn't just run.
12:14
They evolved. They realized that the
12:16
West was naive. A perfect new frontier.
12:20
They set up complex import export
12:22
businesses in British Columbia. They
12:24
bought real estate in Australia. They
12:26
infiltrated the shipping logistics of
12:28
the port of Roderdam. These aren't just
12:30
local thugs anymore.
12:32
So they didn't disappear. They just went
12:34
global and legitimate looking.
12:36
Exactly. Today the grandfather isn't
12:39
sitting in a tea house in Wanchai
12:41
sipping tea and barking orders. He's
12:43
sitting in a penthouse in Vancouver
12:45
managing a global fentinel supply chain
12:47
that stretches from Guandong factories
12:49
to the streets of Philadelphia. They
12:51
didn't die. They went global. They
12:53
traded the machete for the MacBook. It's
12:55
a completely different beast. Now, when
12:57
you look at these files, you stop seeing
12:59
just criminals. You see a parallel
13:02
system. The triads exist because they
13:04
offer something the government, any
13:06
government, often can't. Absolute
13:09
protection and immediate justice,
13:11
however brutal. They are the dark mirror
13:13
of Asian capitalism, reflecting back its
13:16
ambition and ruthlessness.
13:17
It's unsettling to think about how
13:19
deeply they're woven into the fabric of
13:21
society and how they just keep adapting.
13:24
You really can't kill an idea, can you?
13:26
They survived theQing dynasty. They
13:29
survived the British Empire. They
13:30
survived the Japanese occupation. And
13:32
they are surviving the surveillance
13:34
state. Why? Because as long as there is
13:36
a desire for what is forbidden, as long
13:39
as there are those seeking power outside
13:40
the established rules, there will be a
13:42
brother ready to take that oath. And
13:44
that, I think, is the true legacy of the
13:47
triads of Hong Kong.
13:48
A sobering thought for sure. Thank you
13:51
for joining us on this deep dive into
13:53
the shadows of Hong Kong.
13:54
It's been a truly eyeopening, if
13:56
sometimes chilling, journey. We'll be
13:58
back next time with more untold stories
14:00
from the world of Asian crime.
14:02
Indeed. Until then, stay safe out there
14:05
and remember, sometimes the real power
14:07
isn't in plain sight.