U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

Asian Transnational Organized Crime 

and Its Impact on the United States 

Special REPORT

JAN. 07 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij
U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

810 Seventh Street N.W. 

Washington, DC 20531 

Alberto R. Gonzales 

Attorney General 

Regina B. Schofield 

Assistant Attorney General 

David W. Hagy 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of 

Justice Programs and Principal Deputy Director, 

National Institute of Justice 

This and other publications and products of the National Institute 

of Justice can be found at: 

National Institute of Justice 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij 

Office of Justice Programs 

Partnerships for Safer Communities 

www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
JAN. 07 

This monograph is based 

on “Asian Transnational 

Organized Crime and Its 

Impact on the United 

States: Developing a 

Transnational Crime 

Research Agenda,” final 

report to the National 

Institute of Justice, 

November 2004, 

NCJ 213310, available 

from the National 

Criminal Justice 

Reference Service at 

www.ncjrs.org/ 

pdffiles1/nij/grants/ 

213310.pdf. 

Asian Transnational Organized Crime and 

Its Impact on the United States 

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the 

authors and do not reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. 

Department of Justice. 

Support for this research was provided by contract number TDL#1700–215 

from the National Institute of Justice. 

NCJ 214186 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

ABOUT THIS REPORT 

The National Institute of 

Justice, as part of its effort 

to build an international 

research agenda that will 

help the United States better 

understand potential threats 

from transnational crime, 

supported this project to— 

■ Determine high priority 

areas for research on Asian 

transnational organized 

crime. 

■ Assess the impact of Asian 

transnational organized 

crime on the United States. 

■ Identify relevant data and 

information sources in Asia. 

■ Identify potential collaborative research partners and 

institutions in Asia. 

This report focuses on the 

first two project goals. 

What did the 

researchers find? 

There is little consensus 

among Asian authorities as 

to what their main organized 

crime problems are. Further, 

Asian and U.S. interview participants had differing opinions 

about the importance of Asian 

transnational crime. The U.S. 

authorities viewed several 

offenses, including drugs, 

arms, and human trafficking, 

as serious problems that 

affect interests of the United 

States and undermine the 

stability of its Asian allies. 

Asian respondents generally 

tended to view “traditional” 

organized crime activities— 

such as extortion, gambling, 

loan sharking, prostitution, debt collection, and 

violence—committed by 

local and regional groups 

as a higher priority than 

transnational crimes. 

Respondents in this study 

characterized the transnational organized crime networks 

operating in the region as 

highly specialized, with any 

overlapping of criminal activities occurring mostly at the 

level of transportation of 

goods and people. Contrary 

to the views of some U.S. 

authorities, the commonly 

expressed view among the 

study respondents was that 

there is no linkage between 

transnational organized crime 

groups and terrorist groups. 

ii 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Preface 

This study was undertaken 

on behalf of the National 

Institute of Justice between 

July 2003 and August 2004. 

Its purpose was to preliminarily assess the impact of 

Asian transnational organized 

crime on the United States 

while, at the same time, 

determining high-priority 

areas for further research and 

identifying potential collaborative research partners and 

sources of relevant data and 

information in Asia. The aim 

was thus not to examine the 

organized crime situation in 

the region in detail, but rather 

to lay the foundation for a 

research agenda that would 

ultimately accomplish this 

purpose. 

A variety of techniques were 

used as part of the overall 

exploratory methodology. 

These included 4 months of 

interviews and field observations with experts including 

law enforcement officials, 

policymakers, and scholars, 

as well as U.S. officials, 

in eight Asian sites. Meetings 

were also held with Asian 

crime experts in the United 

States. Interviews and site 

visits were supplemented 

with surveys and analysis 

done by local Asian researchers, an analysis of 

U.S. indictments, and the 

review of a large volume of 

literature. The sites covered 

by the research are Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, 

Japan, Macau, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. 

The first chapter of this 

monograph describes the 

divergent perceptions of 

Asian transnational organized 

crime held by the Asian versus the U.S. interview 

participants and also offers 

a researcher’s perspective. 

The second chapter explains 

the scope and patterns of 

Asian organized crime. The 

final chapter offers an initial 

assessment of the impact of 

Asian transnational organized 

crime on the United States. 

iii 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Contents


About This Report ..................................................................ii


Preface ...................................................................................iii


Introduction............................................................................1


Chapter 1: In the Eye of the Beholder: 


Perceptions of the Problem...................................................5


Asian Authorities’ Perspective.............................................5


U.S. Authorities’ Viewpoint ................................................15


Researchers’ Vantage Point ...............................................16


Chapter 2: Scope and Patterns of Organized Crime .........19


Scope ................................................................................19


Specialization.....................................................................21


Structure or Opportunity?..................................................21


The Flow............................................................................22


Chapter 3: Impact on the United States ............................25


Threat, Impact, and Harm to the United States ................26


Impact on Broader U.S. Interests......................................31


Conclusion............................................................................33


Notes.....................................................................................35


v 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

James O. Finckenauer and Ko-lin Chin 

Introduction 

By the late 20th century, 

organized criminal groups 

throughout the world were 

able to exploit the same 

economic liberalization, 

technology advances, and 

open borders that enabled 

multinational corporations 

to grow and prosper. Today, 

organized crime is a transnational phenomenon—and a 

cause for worldwide concern. 

Transnational crime groups 

may have profited more from 

globalization than legitimate 

businesses, which are subject 

to domestic and host country 

laws and regulations. Transnational crime syndicates and 

networks, abetted by official 

corruption, blackmail, and 

intimidation, can use open 

markets and open societies 

to their full advantage. 

As part of its effort to build 

an international research 

agenda that will help 

the United States better 

About the Authors 

James O. Finckenauer, 

Ph.D., is Distinguished 

Professor of Criminal 

Justice at Rutgers University and former director of 

NIJ’s International Center. 

Ko-lin Chin, Ph.D., is a 

Professor in the School of 

Criminal Justice at Rutgers 

University. 

DEFINITION OF TERMS 

This study uses the definition of an organized crime group that was 

established by an ad hoc committee of United Nations member states 

working on a convention to facilitate the prevention and combating of 

transnational organized crime: 

“A structured group of three or more persons existing for a period of 

time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offen[s]es in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit.” 

According to the convention, an offense is transnational if— 

1. It is committed in more than one state. 

2. It is committed in one state but a substantial part of its preparation, 

planning, direction, or control takes place in another state. 

3. It is committed in one state but involves an organized criminal group 

that engages in criminal activities in more than one state. 

4. It is committed in one state but has substantial effects in another 

state. 

1 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

STUDY METHODS 

To achieve the multiple purposes of this project, researchers pursued 

several paths of inquiry: 

■ Interviews. On three separate visits to Asia—together comprising 

about 4 months—researchers interviewed people familiar with organized crime in that part of the world. Altogether, they interviewed 139 

subjects, including 61 Asian law enforcement officials, 30 U.S. officials 

(e.g., Federal Bureau of Investigation legal attachés, Drug Enforcement Administration representatives, immigration and customs officials, resident legal advisors for a U.S. embassy and consulate, and 

secret service personnel), 27 professors/researchers, 13 nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers, 6 persons engaged in commercial sex acts (i.e., prostitutes, exotic dancers, and other employees) 

or owners of sex establishments (such as brothels, sex clubs, and 

massage parlors), and 2 reporters. In addition, researchers spoke with 

law enforcement officials from the FBI and the U.S. Department of 

Justice’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section in Washington, 

D.C., who are dealing with organized crime matters and with staff in 

the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. 

Department of State. 

■ Field visits. Researchers participated in a police raid of a sex club 

in Taipei, visited a detention center for illegal immigrants outside 

Taipei (where they interviewed two young Chinese women detainees), 

talked extensively to local residents of a leading migrant-sending 

community in China, and toured some crime hot spots accompanied 

by other U.S. or local authorities. 

■ Surveys. Researchers asked a select number of experts in Beijing, 

Taipei, and Hong Kong to complete a survey instrument on organized 

crime in their respective jurisdictions and to prepare brief analyses 

on two illegal markets—drug trafficking and human smuggling and 

trafficking. 

■ Collection and analyses of documents. Researchers examined 11 

indictments involving Asian crime groups in the United States and 

a large volume of both the English and Chinese literature on Asian 

organized crime. They also had unique access to the original data 

from two studies undertaken by Ko-lin Chin (one of this report’s two 

investigators): a recently completed study on the social organization 

of human smuggling groups and an ongoing project on the drug trade 

in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle. These two studies involved interviews with hundreds of human smugglers and drug growers, producers, and traffickers. 

2 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

understand potential threats 

from transnational crime, the 

National Institute of Justice 

(NIJ) supported a project to 

preliminarily assess organized crime in eight Asian 

countries or administrative 

regions (Cambodia, China, 

Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, 

the Philippines, Taiwan, and 

Thailand); pinpoint research 

issues of mutual interest to 

U.S. and Asian researchers; 

identify potential research 

partners (and their affiliated 

institutions) in Asia who 

might work collaboratively 

on these issues; and locate 

indigenous data sources that 

would be accessible to U.S. 

investigators. 

For the most part, this monograph focuses on the project’s 

preliminary assessment and 

provides a framework for the 

issues associated with transnational organized crime in 

Asia. Interested readers may 

obtain the full report, which is 

available on the National Criminal Justice Reference Service 

Web site at www.ncjrs.org/ 

pdffiles1/nij/grants/213310.pdf. 

3 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Chapter 1 

In the Eye of the Beholder: 

Perceptions of the Problem 

What are the most serious 

problems associated with 

organized crime in the eight 

study sites? The answer to 

that question depends on 

who is asked. U.S. officials, 

whether in Asia or Washington, D.C., responded differently than Asian authorities, 

and even among the latter 

group, opinions varied 

according to jurisdiction. 

The U.S. authorities who 

were contacted viewed several offenses (including drug, 

arms, and human trafficking) 

as serious problems that 

affect interests of the United 

States and undermine the 

stability of its Asian allies. 

Asian respondents, broadly 

speaking, tended to view 

“traditional” organized crime 

activities (such as extortion, 

gambling, loan sharking, 

prostitution, debt collection, 

and violence) committed by 

local and regional groups as 

a higher priority than transnational crimes. The following 

section offers a brief countryby-country summary of the 

major organized crime issues 

and problems perceived by 

Asian authorities. 

Asian Authorities’ 

Perspective 

Cambodia 

The two leading organized 

crime problems in Cambodia 

are drug production/trafficking 

and human trafficking. Cambodian officials are concerned 

that drugs produced in neighboring countries are being 

trafficked into Cambodia for 

local consumption. Drug traffickers also use Cambodia as 

a transit country, but Cambodian authorities are less 

alarmed by this. The trafficking 

of Cambodian women into 

Thailand for sexual activities 

and the presence of a large 

number of Vietnamese 

women in Cambodia who are 

engaged in prostitution are 

major concerns for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) 

in Asia. According to NGO 

representatives in Cambodia, 

however, local authorities are 

reluctant to crack down on the 

local commercial sex trade 

because they want to promote Cambodia as a place for 

cheap sex to attract tourists.1 

Some NGO personnel believe 

that Cambodian authorities 

are either directly involved in 

5 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

the sex trade or benefit from 

it. These same sources indicate that there is no link be­ tween terrorism and human 

trafficking in Cambodia. 

China For Chinese authorities, the 

gravest organized crime 

problems, in order of seriousness, are:2 ■ Drug distribution. The 

government is alarmed by 

the dramatic increase in 

the number of heroin addicts in China, and authorities believe that local and foreign-based drug syndicates are importing heroin 

from the neighboring 

Golden Triangle area and 

distributing it throughout 

the country (see “Drug 

Production and Trafficking 

in the Golden Triangle”). 

■ Gambling and prostitution. After being nearly 

eradicated following the 1949 communist takeov

er 

in China, gambling and 

prostitution are now 

thriving. 

■

Violence. Crime groups are 

becoming better armed and 

more violent, and Chinese 

authorities are concerned 

about violent acts committed by mobsters against 

rival gang members, ordinary citizens, business owners, and government 

authorities. 

As for the future, according 

to Chen Xiao-cun of the Criminal Investigation Division, 

Ministry of Public Security, 

even more serious problems 

may lie ahead: 

Our main concerns are 

that: (1) organizations with 

an underworld nature will 

penetrate into the legitimate business sector, (2) 

gangsters will get involved 

in politics and run for public 

office, and (3) they will eventually hook up with foreign-based organized 

crime groups. 

Evidence suggests that many 

crime groups in China have 

already monopolized certain 

wholesale businesses and 

that the majority of these 

groups are protected by local 

authorities known as baohusan, or “protecting umbrella.” 

In general, official corruption 

is seen to be a large and 

growing problem in China. 

Organized crime is a municipal, local, or regional (rather 

than national or transnational) 

phenomenon. Given the pace 

of economic development in 

China, and the interest of external investors in this 

6 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

DRUG PRODUCTION AND TRAFFICKING IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE 

The focal point of illicit drug production and trafficking in Southeast 

Asia is known as the Golden Triangle, a rugged, mountainous region 

that overlaps the borders of Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand. 

Although the tri-border region accounts for the majority of heroin production in Southeast Asia, the amount of heroin produced in the area 

has decreased by approximately 70 percent in the past 5 years. In 2004, 

Burma and Laos accounted for nearly all heroin produced in the region. 

Eradication efforts and the enforcement of poppy-free zones have combined to depress cultivation levels. 

However, the decline in heroin production is being offset by an increase 

in the production of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS). Methamphetamine is cheaper and easier to produce than heroin; it entails a simple 

process that starts with ephedrine, the principal alkaloid of ephedra, a 

shrub that grows wild on vast expanses of the nearby Chinese province 

of Yunnan. 

Much of the heroin produced in the Golden Triangle reaches markets 

through southern China, although increased law enforcement pressure 

by Chinese authorities has forced some traffickers to seek new routes 

through Thailand. In Laos, the Mekong River is a major conduit for 

heroin trafficking and is patrolled in only a few areas. Many key drug 

areas, particularly in the north, are virtually inaccessible to Laotian 

officials. According to Interpol, “ethnic Chinese traffickers control the 

heroin trade in Oceania (often with Vietnamese criminal organizations), 

Malaysia, and the few remaining markets in Canada and the United 

States.” 

Hong Kong’s position as a key port city and its proximity to the Golden 

Triangle and mainland China have made it a natural transit point for 

heroin moving from Southeast Asia to global markets. Although the 

amount of heroin transiting through Hong Kong appears to be diminishing, drug traffickers continue to use it as a base of operations. 

development, the involvement 

of criminal organizations has 

significant implications, including a potential chilling effect 

on economic growth. 

laborers or to be sexually 

exploited. The arrival of large 

numbers of undocumented 

Chinese persons for these 

purposes is a cause of major 

concern in many countries.3 

Tens of thousands of Chinese 

men and women are smuggled abroad each year to be 

Nonetheless, Chinese authorities do not consider this to be 

an organized crime problem— 

7 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

or even a Chinese problem, 

because most snakeheads 

(human smugglers) are 

Chinese-Americans.4 Local 

authorities noted the many 

benefits of having large numbers of their own people working abroad and sending 

money home. Indeed, study 

researchers observed considerable new housing development that is being fueled by 

money allegedly sent home by illegal workers in the 

United States. 

Hong Kong 

Hong Kong was a British 

colony for more than 100 

years before it returned to 

Chinese control in 1997. It is 

now a special administrative 

region—meaning that it has 

a degree of autonomy— 

although that status is in 

constant contention with 

the mainland. Hong Kong 

has long been home to the 

secretive, ritualistic criminal 

organizations known as triads.5 Authorities have a 

strong history of combating 

these triads—and of battling 

corruption as well—and the 

jurisdiction is widely known for its sophisticated and wellresourced police operations.6 

At the same time, Hong Kong 

is subject to much illicit move­

ment of goods, services, and 

people to and from the mainland. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) representatives in Hong Kong 

reported that some 18 million 

tons of cargo (both legal and 

illegal) destined for the United 

States pass through the port 

of Hong Kong in a year—a 

situation that clearly poses 

a security concern for the 

United States. According to the elite Organized Crime and Triad Bureau 

(OCTB) of the Hong Kong Police, the leading organized 

crime problems in Hong Kong are car theft and smuggling, human smuggling, 

cross-border organized crime 

involving China and Macau, 

money laundering, drug trafficking, debt collection, and 

triad monopolies. Triad societies control private bus 

routes, fish markets, street 

markets, wholesale markets, 

entertainment centers, parking services, prostitution, 

illegal gambling, and extortion. In addition, each of the 

three triads (the Wo Shing 

Wo, the San Yee On, and the 

14K) is said to be involved in 

the manufacture and streetlevel distribution of pirated VCDs and DVDs. As a major transportation and 

financial center of Asia and 

a transit point in and out of 

8 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

China, Hong Kong has been 

a hub for transnational organized crime activities for the 

past 30 years. Although triad 

organizations are active in 

Hong Kong, the OCTB indicated that no international 

triad organization exists. DEA 

representatives in Hong Kong 

said that drug trafficking was 

not well organized at the 

wholesale level. Instead, 

small groups of individual 

entrepreneurs serve as 

wholesalers, and the triads 

are mostly involved in organizing the street-level retail 

drug business. 

Authorities interviewed said 

that the triads “are not interested in involving themselves 

in politics.” The kinds of political/ideological missions associated with terrorism are said 

to be outside the ambitions 

or interests of the Hong 

Kong triads. 

Japan 

In Japan, the most serious 

organized crime problems are 

almost always related to the 

notorious Japanese organized 

crime groups—the yakuza.7 

Japanese authorities are 

mostly concerned with 

yakuza involvement in gambling, prostitution, amphetamine trafficking, and the 

victimization of legitimate 

businesses. According to 

Chief Seijirou Ikegami of the 

Anti-Organized Crime Division, Ueno Police Department, Tokyo Metropolitan 

Police, Japanese officials are 

also alarmed by the presence 

of a large number of legal 

and illegal immigrants from 

China (mostly Shanghainese, 

Fujianese, and Northeasterners) who are involved in 

organized crime activities 

and considered to be heavily 

armed and dangerous. 

Because of its wealth and 

the spending power of Japanese businessmen, Japan has 

become a major destination 

country for women from Thailand, the Philippines, Colombia, China, Korea, and several 

other countries. In addition to 

women from abroad, Japan 

has a large number of local 

Japanese women who are 

involved in the sex industry.

8 

Japanese authorities are convinced that yakuza members 

are heavily involved in the 

transportation and control of 

foreign persons for sexual 

purposes, but they do not 

view this as their most serious organized crime problem 

because (1) they believe 

these persons are not being 

forced into their activities, 

and (2) the Japanese public 

has not pressured authorities 

to do something about it. 

9 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

Macau 

Macau, a former Portuguese 

colony, is, like Hong Kong, a 

special administrative region 

of China. Macau aspires to be 

a tourist mecca and is dominated by gambling casinos, 

prostitution, and drugs. Ac­

cording to Sio-chak Wong, 

director of the Judiciary Police 

of Macau, the two major 

organized crime problems in 

Macau are gambling and illegal immigration/prostitution. 

Gambling is dominated by 

triad groups transplanted 

from Hong Kong, while illegal 

immigration/prostitution is 

controlled by crime groups 

formed by mainland Chinese. 

Recently, these Chinese 

crime groups began to be 

involved in fraud, money laundering, and the smuggling of 

stolen goods from Macau to 

China. Because the Macau administration relies heavily on taxes 

from gambling—and prostitution is considered to be an 

important adjunct to the 

gambling industry—Macau 

authorities are reluctant to 

crack down on crime groups 

involved in these activities. 

As a result, organized crime 

groups maintain a strong 

presence in the gambling 

business in Macau. At the 

same time, Macau’s commercial sex establishments 

are booming because of the 

arrival of large numbers of 

prostitutes from China. 

The Philippines Because of political instability 

and corruption, the country’s 

economy is in disarray, which 

results in large numbers of 

Filipino people having to go overseas to work. Many of 

them are women, and a 

significant percentage of 

these women leave with an 

“entertainer visa” and end 

up being sexually exploited 

abroad.9 Although the Philippine government has recently 

passed an anti-trafficking law, 

few human traffickers have 

ever been prosecuted and 

punished (see “Trafficking in Persons Report”). But Filipino 

officials are less concerned 

with the problem of Filipino 

persons engaged in prostitution abroad than with highprofile crimes such as drug 

trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, hijacking, bank robbery, 

prostitution, illegal gambling, 

and firearms smuggling. The trafficking of amphetamine (called shabu in the 

Philippines) from China to the 

Philippines has been a major 

concern of Filipino authorities 

10 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT 

The International Labour Organization (ILO)— 

the United Nations agency charged with 

addressing labor standards, employment, 

and social protection issues—estimates that 

12.3 million people throughout the world are 

enslaved in forced labor, bonded labor, sexual 

servitude, and involuntary servitude at any 

given time. Millions of these victims are trafficked within their own national borders. 

According to the State Department’s 2005 

Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and 

children are trafficked across international 

borders each year; of these, about 80 percent 

are female, and up to half are minors. The 

majority of transnational victims are trafficked 

into commercial sexual exploitation. 

Tier Ranking System 

The TIP Report evaluates the performance of 

150 countries in terms of their compliance with 

the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 (reauthorized in 2003 and 2005). Tier 1 countries are 

deemed to be in full compliance. Tier 2 countries are not in compliance but are making significant efforts to become so. Tier 3 countries 

are not compliant and are not making 

significant efforts toward that end. A Tier 3 

assessment could trigger the withholding of 

certain types of U.S. aid. 

The 2003 reauthorization of the TVPA created 

a Tier 2 Watch List of countries that warrant 

special scrutiny. The list consists of countries 

whose rating changed from the previous year’s 

TIP Report or countries listed as Tier 2 in the 

current report where— 

■ The absolute number of victims of severe 

forms of trafficking is very significant or 

significantly increasing. 

■ There is a failure to provide evidence of 

increasing efforts to combat severe forms of 

human trafficking from the previous year— 

including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes; 

increased assistance to victims; and decreasing evidence of complicity by government officials. 

■ The determination that a country is making 

significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was based on 

commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year. 

Since trafficking likely extends to every country 

in the world, the omission of a country from the 

TIP Report may only indicate a lack of adequate information. 

The TVPA defines severe forms of trafficking as 

“(1) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex 

act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or 

in which the person induced to perform such 

an act has not attained 18 years of age; or (2) 

the recruitment, harboring, transportation, 

provision, or obtaining of a person for labor 

or services, through the use of force, fraud, 

or coercion for the purpose of subjection to 

involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, 

or slavery.” 

Status of the Eight Sites in 

This Report 

Of the eight sites that researchers visited, only 

Hong Kong was considered fully compliant 

with the minimum requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Japan, 

Taiwan, and Thailand were assigned Tier 2 

rankings, and Macau (due to insufficient 

information) was not listed at all. 

(continued on page 12) 

11 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT (CONTINUED) 

Two countries—China and the Philippines— 

were put on the Tier 2 Watch List. In the case 

of China, this designation is due to its failure to 

provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking (specifically, its inadequate protection for trafficking victims—especially 

foreign women and Chinese women deported 

from Taiwan). The Philippines was placed on 

the watch list because, despite widespread 

allegations of law enforcement complicity in 

trafficking, the Government reported no prosecutions of trafficking-related corruption. The 

Government made “modestly better efforts” 

during the performance period to implement 

its 2003 anti-trafficking law, i.e., it dedicated 

four state prosecutors to focus on traffickingrelated cases and provided training to law 

enforcement officials. The 2005 TIP Report indicates that “28 cases are currently under investigation” and that “at least 15 cases are being 

prosecuted under the anti-trafficking law and 

other statutes . . . . [But] corruption and a weak 

judiciary remain serious impediments to the 

effective prosecution of traffickers.” 

Cambodia, a source, destination, and transit 

country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation 

and forced labor, was assessed as Tier 3 for its 

lack of progress in combating severe forms of 

trafficking, particularly its failure to convict 

traffickers and public officials involved in trafficking. In addition, the Government failed to 

take effective action during the performance 

period to ensure that those responsible for a 

raid on an NGO shelter for trafficking victims 

(which included removal of several victims) 

were held accountable and brought to justice. 

In short, Cambodia’s anti-trafficking efforts 

remained hampered by systemic corruption 

and an ineffectual judicial system. 

TIP Report Assessment of Eight Countries 

Tier 2 Inadequate 

Country Tier 1 Tier 2 Watch List Tier 3 Information 

Cambodia X 

China X 

Hong Kong X 

Japan X 

Macau X 

Philippines X 

Taiwan X 

Thailand X 

12 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

for a long time. Recently, 

many shabu laboratories have 

been established in the 

Philippines, in part because 

of the improved effectiveness 

of tighter coastal patrols in 

stopping the drug flow from 

abroad. Authorities indicated 

that the drug business in the 

Philippines is controlled by 

predominantly FilipinoChinese, or Chinese from 

China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan who are protected by 

local politicians. 

A U.S. Government official 

interviewed in Manila said 

that organized crime and 

terrorism in the Philippines 

are separate activities. The 

terrorists are said to be isolated groups and not involved 

in such transnational crimes 

as human trafficking and drug 

smuggling. A Filipino official 

indicated that some terrorist 

groups may be involved in 

kidnapping for ransom, but 

they do not play a major role 

in such crimes because their 

numbers are not strong in 

Manila, where most of the 

wealthy Chinese (who are 

potential victims) live. 

Taiwan 

In Taiwan, the number one 

organized crime problem is 

heijin, the penetration of 

mobsters into the legitimate 

business sector and the political arena.10 Many influential 

gangsters in Taiwan are now 

chief executive officers of 

major business conglomerates, and they are heavily 

involved in the businesses of 

bid-rigging, waste disposal, 

construction, cable television 

networks, telecommunications, stock trading, and 

entertainment. Further, starting in the mid-1980s, many 

criminals have successfully 

run for public office in order 

to protect themselves from 

police crackdowns. 

In addition to heijin, Taiwanese authorities are concerned with traditional 

organized crime activities 

such as gambling, prostitution, loan sharking, debt collection, extortion, and gang 

violence. Kidnapping for 

ransom is also a serious 

concern; influential and 

wealthy figures are often 

targeted and, as a result, a 

large number of Taiwanese 

entrepreneurs have departed 

for a safe haven abroad. 

A relatively recent and growing transnational crime problem is the production and 

distribution of pirated CDs and 

DVDs. Each of the three major 

criminal gangs surveyed in 

13 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 Taiwan is said to be involved 

in this business. Another 

transnational crime—drug 

trafficking—was cited as a 

problem but considered less worrisome to authorities than 

human smuggling. Even 

though Taiwan is a destination 

country for heroin from the 

Golden Triangle and amphetamine from China, Taiwanese 

authorities are more concerned with the influx of prostitutes (or potential prostitutes) 

from China, who are smuggled into Taiwan by boats 

across the Taiwan Strait or 

arrive through fraudulent 

marriages with Taiwanese 

citizens.

11

At the time of this study, one 

detention facility was holding 

more than 1,000, mostly 

young, Chinese women awaiting deportation back to 

mainland China, some for as 

long as 9 months. Taiwanese 

law enforcement authorities were frustrated by dealing 

with uncooperative Chinese 

authorities on this issue. Also 

frustrating them were rulings 

of Taiwanese judges who do 

not consider human trafficking to be an organized crime 

problem and thus do not 

apply the country’s antiorganized crime laws to the 

networks engaged in these 

activities. 

As in mainland China, respondents in Taiwan reported no 

concerns about any possible 

connections between organized crime groups and either 

terrorist groups or so-called 

armed opposition groups. 

Thailand The two leading organized 

crime groups in Thailand are 

the jao phor (godfathers) and 

the United Wa State Army (or 

the Red Wa).12 Jao phor are 

mostly ethnic Chinese based 

in the provinces who have 

business interests in both 

legitimate and criminal activities. Moreover, they have 

groups of associates and followers; move closely with 

powerful bureaucrats, policemen, and military figures; sit 

in positions in local administration; and play a key role 

in parliamentary elections. According to Thai authorities, 

jao phor groups reside in 39 

of Thailand’s 76 provinces. 

The United Wa State Army is 

also a major concern for the Thai government because 

this organization, located in 

the Burmese part of the 

Golden Triangle, is believed 

to be responsible for manu­ facturing and trafficking millions of methamphetamine tablets (called yaba or mad 

drug in Thailand) into the 

14 
15

ASIAN TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME

country for local consumption. Although heroin produced by the Red Wa and

other groups in the Golden

Triangle continues to pass

through Thailand, Thai authorities are less concerned with

this drug because the country’s local heroin market is

relatively small. 

Thailand is also a source, transit, and destination country

for trafficked women,13 but

Thai officials are not concerned by the sizeable presence of Burmese women

engaged in prostitution in

their country or by the trafficking of Thai women to

Japan and Europe to be sexually exploited. Because prostitution is vital to the country’s

enormous tourist industry

and Thai policemen are

believed to be heavily bribed

by sex establishment owners,

authorities do not consider

the illegal sex industry to be

an organized crime problem. 

U.S. Authorities’

Viewpoint

As already noted, U.S.

authorities are much more

likely than their Asian counterparts to consider transnational organized crime

activities to be the more

serious organized crime

problems in Asia. This could

be explained by differing

focuses of the two groups, or

might be attributable in some

cases to lack of knowledge

and understanding of the

local situation by the Americans as a result of having to

depend on outside sources

for information. In any event,

from the U.S. viewpoint, the

problems of drug production

and trafficking, human smuggling, trafficking in women

and children for the purpose

of prostitution, arms trafficking, and money laundering

are all very serious problems

in Asia. Americans interviewed also thought these

activities have either a direct

or indirect impact on U.S.

interests or, at the very least,

that they have undermined

the stability and well-being

of ally countries in Asia.

None of the Americans interviewed believes that terrorist

groups and transnational

organized crime groups are

linked. (As previously indicated, this is the view held by

some of the Asian authorities

as well, among those who

expressed any opinion on

the issue.)
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

Researchers’ Vantage Point 

Contrary to the opinions of 

many in U.S. law enforcement, this study found that 

the relationship between 

traditional organized crime 

groups (such as the triads 

and the yakuza) and transnational crime is tenuous. Asian authorities in China 

and Hong Kong indicated that 

human smuggling, for example, is carried out primarily by 

loose networks or “mom and 

pop” groups with no ties to 

organized crime—a claim 

borne out by data from personal interviews with such 

smugglers. This difference in 

understanding about who is 

engaged in transnational 

crime may account for some 

of the disparity in priorities 

between criminal justice 

agencies in the East and West. Another difficulty has 

to do with what constitutes 

transnational crime. As discussed earlier, Asian authorities may be reluctant to treat 

certain transnational activities 

as crime because they are 

beneficial to the local econo­ my, and the people who are 

involved may not be gangsters or professional criminals. Such perceptual and 

communication problems 

pose challenges for collaborative research but are not 

insurmountable. Based on the interviews, 

fieldwork, and literature 

review conducted as part of 

this project, the five leading 

organized crime problems in Asia (not necessarily ranked 

in the order presented here) 

are (1) drug production and 

trafficking, (2) trafficking in women and children, (3) 

human smuggling, (4) the 

links among organized crime/ 

politics/official corruption, and 

(5) the penetration of organized crime into legitimate 

businesses. For research 

purposes, it is recommended 

that funding be targeted to 

the first three problems (de­ tailed below) because of the 

inevitable obstacles that U.S. 

researchers would face in 

trying to study criminal 

infiltration into politics 

and business—areas that, in 

any event, do not affect the 

United States directly. It is 

further recommended that 

research efforts be both bilateral (principally with China) 

and multilateral in nature. The 

full report identifies a wide variety of potentially willing research partners and 

assesses their strengths 

and weaknesses. 

16 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

■ Drug production and 

trafficking. Traffickers are 

taking advantage of China’s 

open-door policy and using 

the land route from the 

Golden Triangle to distribute heroin both to markets 

inside China and to ports 

where it can be shipped 

to other countries. This 

enables them to move hundreds of kilograms in one 

delivery and helps them 

develop a huge market as 

they wend their way 

through a country with 

more than 1.3 billion people. In addition, large quantities of this heroin may 

reach the United States. 

Massive quantities of methamphetamine produced in 

the Golden Triangle are trafficked to Thailand. The explosion of methamphetamine 

use in Thailand has caused 

a serious internal problem 

and also exacerbated existing hostility between Thailand and Burma, thus 

worsening a volatile international situation. Amphetamine production in China 

has caused a problem of its 

use there, and trafficking of 

amphetamine to Taiwan, 

Japan, and the Philippines 

has created problems for 

those countries. 

■ Trafficking in women and 

children. This human rights 

problem, which affects 

many thousands of victims, 

is getting worse rather than 

better. Research is needed 

to differentiate between 

trafficking and smuggling, 

and their respective consequences, to put to rest 

claims made by Asian law 

enforcement that women 

cross borders voluntarily 

to increase their income, 

and to remove the emotionalism surrounding this 

issue—as reflected in 

terms such as “sex slave” 

and “debt bondage.” 

■ Human smuggling. In 

some ways, this is a more 

serious problem than 

human trafficking because 

of the numbers involved 

(millions, not thousands). 

In addition, smuggling fees 

per person have increased 

from about $30,000 in the 

early 1990s to $65,000 

after the events of September 11, 2001. Smuggling 

has a direct impact on the 

United States because 

many illegal aliens end up 

in America. 

17 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Chapter 2 

Scope and Patterns of 

Organized Crime 

Many crime groups exist in 

Asia, some of them indigenous and others imported 

from abroad or formed by 

foreigners. As with the task 

of ranking the seriousness of 

organized crime problems in 

Asia, an attempt to generalize 

the scope of each and every 

organized crime group is 

difficult because this may 

depend on the country, the 

group, and the product or 

service involved. 

Scope 

In general, most traditional 

organized crime groups (i.e., 

mafia-like criminal organizations in China, organized 

gangs in Taiwan, triad societies in Hong Kong and 

Macau, and jao phor in Thailand) are local in scope. Three 

Chinese organized crime 

syndicates identified in a 

recent U.N. study—the Liu 

Yong Syndicate, the Zhang 

Wei Syndicate, and the Liang 

Xiao Min Syndicate—were all 

said to be local or at most 

regional in their scope, and to 

be without cooperative relationships with other organized crime groups.14 

No doubt, some members of 

such local/regional organizations may have influence at 

the national level, but their 

legal and illegal operations 

are more likely to be local in 

nature. An exception is the 

yakuza in Japan. A Japanese 

official said in an interview 

that yakuza members are 

very much involved in the 

trafficking of persons and the 

operation of sex establishments in Japan, and some 

members of these various 

crime groups may also travel 

to other countries or may be 

involved in bilateral or multinational criminal activities. 

However, they, and the members of other Asia-based 

organized crime groups, 

are not key players in transnational criminal activities.15 

A Chinese official in Beijing 

(referring to mafia-like crime 

groups known in China 

as “black societies”) explained the organized crime/ 

transnational crime connection this way: “According to 

our law, there are four types 

of organized crime groups: 

(1) criminal groups; (2) criminal organizations; (3) black 

19 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

society-like criminal organizations; and (4) black societies. 

At this point, we don’t yet 

have black societies, but we 

expect them to be formed 

in the very near future. The 

[other] above-mentioned three 

groups are not involved in 

transnational crime. That is 

because these groups are all 

territorial—their spheres of 

influence and their activities 

are restricted to their own 

turfs. They are not mature 

enough to establish a transnational crime network.” 

Similarly, assessments of 

specific criminal organizations 

in Taiwan do not indicate any 

involvement on the part of 

these groups in transnational 

crime. A drug market analysis 

in Taiwan, however, showed 

that some organized crime 

groups may be active in the 

transnational trafficking of 

new, synthetic drugs. 

In the Philippines, interview 

participants said specifically 

that the transnational “headhunters” who recruit people 

for prostitution there are not 

members of organized crime 

groups. And, a Thai official 

stated: “In Thailand, there are 

influential groups [organized 

crime groups] and there 

are transnational organized 

groups formed by foreigners. 

There is not much relationship existing between the 

influential groups and the 

transnational organized crime 

groups.” 

Even those nontraditional 

organized crime groups 

that are heavily involved in 

transnational crimes such as 

drug trafficking and human 

smuggling/trafficking are local 

or at most national in scope. 

Their transnational criminal 

operations are almost always 

compartmentalized. Most 

large-scale transnational 

criminal activities, such as 

the trafficking of hundreds 

of kilograms of heroin or the 

smuggling of hundreds of 

illegal immigrants, involve 

numerous independent 

groups operating in source, 

transit, and destination countries. There are also, however, “mom and pop,” 

small-scale transnational 

criminal activities involving, 

for example, a couple trying 

to smuggle a small amount 

of drugs or two or three 

migrants from one country 

to another. What is unique 

about transnational crime is 

that it can be carried out in 

some cases by an individual 

(e.g., computer crime) or by 

a group or network with 

hundreds of members or 

associates.16 

20 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Specialization 

Most of the study subjects 

suggested that there is little 

specialization among traditional organized crime groups. 

Most of these groups are 

involved in a variety of both 

legitimate and illegitimate 

businesses. While these 

crime groups continue to be 

involved in traditional organized crime activities such as 

gambling, prostitution, drug 

distribution, loan sharking, 

debt collection, and violence, 

they are also expanding their 

influence into legitimate businesses such as the stock 

market, construction, waste 

disposal, wholesale markets, 

and the food industry. 

However, according to the 

study subjects, transnational 

crime networks are highly 

specialized. It is relatively 

unlikely for a human smuggling organization to be involved in drug trafficking, or 

for a drug-manufacturing 

group to participate in the 

trafficking of women for 

prostitution. 

The only overlapping or nonspecialization that may occur 

is among offenders who are 

involved in transportation. 

In this instance, individual 

members, as opposed to 

crime groups as a whole, 

may cross over in providing 

services for smuggling and 

trafficking. Even though different groups operate each 

transnational criminal activity 

in the source and destination 

countries, and these various 

groups do not get involved 

in more than one type of 

transnational crime, the same 

group responsible for transportation (e.g., a boat captain 

and crew) may simultaneously be involved in smuggling 

both drugs and human 

beings. 

Structure or 

Opportunity? 

Traditional organized crime 

groups are longstanding, 

preexisting groups, while 

transnational crime networks 

are developed in response 

to current criminal opportunities. Some of the traditional 

organized crime groups mentioned above have been in 

existence in Asia for centuries and they are most likely to continue to exist. These 

groups have names, structure, territory, and a strong 

attachment to their environment, and as a result are 

handicapped in taking advantage of criminal opportunities 

that are transnational in 

nature.17 The second group, 

the networks of transnational 

21 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

crime, are more likely to 

emerge around specific opportunities. Very often, a 

nuclear or an extended family 

will initiate an operation in 

response to a new opportuni­ ty and people from the same 

village or at least the same 

ethnic group who are living 

in source, transit, and destination countries will be recruited to participate as 

members of a network that 

may dissolve after the criminal operation is successfully 

carried out. This distinction has implications for both research and 

policy. For research, there is 

a need to expand the current 

thinking about the causes of 

organized crime and about 

the risks and vulnerabilities 

that may lead to the creation 

of criminal markets. There is 

also a need to better understand how those criminal 

markets operate in order to 

provide useful information 

to shape strategies and tactics to disrupt them. For policy, law enforcement officials 

need to do more thinking “out of the box” of traditional, mafia-like structures in 

order to effectively combat 

the crime networks that are 

dominating transnational 

organized crime. 

The Flow There are se

veral major 

movement patterns involving 

people who are sexually exploited, drugs, and laborers 

on the transnational scene. Prostitutes. In Asia, the most 

notable flows of trafficked 

women are (1) from the 

Philippines to Japan, (2) from Thailand to Japan, (3) from 

Burma (Myanmar) to Thailand, (4) from Vietnam to 

Cambodia, and (5) from 

Nepal to India. There are also 

somewhat less notable 

movements such as (1) from 

Cambodia to Thailand, (2) 

from Laos to Thailand, and 

(3) from the Philippines to Korea. The most significant development in human smuggling 

and trafficking, however, is 

the massive movement of 

women from China to other Asian countries and, indeed, 

to the rest of the world. Authorities in all the countries 

visited indicated that many 

Chinese women are showing 

up in their sex industries; 

sex establishments in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Japan have almost been taken over by Chinese women. The presence of 

large numbers of Chinese 

22 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

women in the sex industries 

of Burma, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, 

Australia, and the United 

States has also been heavily 

reported. 

Drugs. In Asia, heroin is produced in the Burmese part of 

the Golden Triangle and flows 

into the international market 

via either Thailand or China. 

China’s heroin market is expanding rapidly, and heroin 

markets exist in most Southeast Asian countries and also 

in Australia. Methamphetamine also is produced in the 

Burmese part of the Golden 

Triangle; Thailand is the main 

market for the drug. It is 

smuggled into Thailand either 

across the Burma-Thai border 

or through Laos and Cambodia. Amphetamine is mainly 

produced in China and smuggled into Taiwan, Japan, the 

Philippines, and other Asian 

countries. 

Undocumented workers. 

A large number of Chinese 

laborers are smuggled by 

boat into Taiwan across the 

Taiwan Strait. Chinese are 

also arriving in Japan and 

Burma in large numbers. 

The presence of a substantial 

number of Chinese, both 

legal and illegal migrants, is 

a matter of concern for the 

majority of nations in Asia. 

Undocumented workers are 

also a matter of concern in 

the United States. 

23 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Chapter 3 

Impact on the United States 

The following discussion 

does not deal with the garden variety of crimes that 

just happen to have been 

committed in the United 

States by Asians, nor the 

Asian street gangs that 

operate in certain U.S. cities. 

Instead, the focus is on those 

crimes that appear to be 

transnational in nature— 

the United States being on 

the receiving end—and that 

originate in (or at least involve) any of the eight 

countries (or administrative 

regions) that were the focal 

point of the study. 

Further, impact and harm are 

construed broadly here, to 

include not only direct criminal activities in the United 

States, but also harm and/or 

potential harm to U.S. interests both at home and 

abroad. For example, given 

the history and the volatility 

of relations between mainland China and Taiwan, and 

the strong U.S. interest and 

investment in that area, criminal developments involving 

those entities are of critical 

interest to the United States. 

In other cases, where there 

are developing U.S. business 

interests, such as in China 

and in the casino industry in 

Macau, again there is the 

potential for a criminal impact 

on U.S. interests. 

Additionally, a word about 

methodology is necessary. 

As noted, principal respondents in the interviews were 

nationals (scholars, law enforcement officials, and in 

some cases victims) of the 

respective countries that 

were visited. Thus, their 

perspectives of how what 

they know might impact the 

United States are pretty 

much speculative. Even in 

the cases of the U.S. officials 

that were interviewed in each 

country, their perspectives on 

the crime and organized 

crime problems are an “in 

country” view, albeit keeping 

U.S. interests very much in 

mind. 

In addition to the interviews 

and field visits that were conducted, local scholars in 

Hong Kong and Taiwan prepared market assessments 

of the criminal markets of 

human trafficking and drug 

25 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

trafficking and analyses of the 

major organized crime groups 

in each of their respective 

areas. It should be recognized that these reflect the 

perspectives of the native 

scholars. 

None of this should be construed to mean that the interviews, assessments, and 

analyses are not valuable— 

quite to the contrary. The 

original sources provided a foundation, a stepping-off 

point, to compare and relate 

what was learned from them 

with a plethora of existing 

secondary materials. The 

latter include in particular: ■ The U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for 2004. ■ “Sex Trafficking of Women 

in the United States” 

(a 2001 report to NIJ by 

Janice Raymond and 

Donna Hughes).18 

■ “The Commercial Sexual 

Exploitation of Children 

in the U.S., Canada, and 

Mexico” (a 2002 report to 

NIJ by Richard Estes and 

Neil Weiner).19 

■ “Sur

vey of Practitioners to 

Assess the Local Impact 

of Transnational Crime” 

(a 2003 report to NIJ by 

Abt Associates).20 

■ Blood Brothers: 

The Criminal Underworld of Asia by Bertil Lintner (2002).21 

Threat, Impact, 

and Harm to the 

United States 

When asked about transnational crime, only a few of the Asian respondents referred 

to specific crimes impacting 

the United States. For example, according to members 

of the faculty of the Fuzhou Police College in China, the 

principal forms of transnational crime involving China 

and the United States are 

kidnapping and human trafficking. Officials of the 

Bureau of Investigation of 

the Ministry of Justice of 

Taiwan stated that fake IDs 

are used to gain Taiwanese 

passports for travel to the 

United States by Chinese 

who are being smuggled 

here. But these are not seen 

as high priority (or even medium priority for the most part) 

problems in Asia. On the 

other hand, human trafficking 

and smuggling were indeed 

high-priority issues for most 

of the U.S. authorities interviewed. These included U.S. 

officials both in Washington 

and abroad. For instance, an 

FBI official indicated that 

such activities as trafficking in 

26 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

women/children who are sexually exploited, trafficking in 

human beings for the purpose of labor, and illegal 

immigration were transnational criminal activities of 

Chinese organized crime 

groups in the United States. 

Human trafficking is one 

problem for which there is 

a seemingly vast difference 

in priority and perspective 

between Asian and U.S. 

authorities. The Asian authorities view what is happening 

in the transnational move­

ment of people as mostly 

smuggling. People wanting to 

leave China, for example, pay 

smugglers to transport them 

to Taiwan or even to the 

United States. There is little 

or no coercion or deception 

in these cases. This is part of 

the reason for the Asian 

authorities’ lack of concern. The Asian experts interviewed 

also do not see this smuggling as an activity of traditional organized crime groups. A 

top criminal investigator with 

the Ministry of Public Security 

in Beijing told researchers that 

human trafficking was indeed “organized,” but that it was 

not a form of organized crime. 

He indicated the main destination countries for Chinese women were Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, and Hong 

Kong. A correspondent in 

Hong Kong indicated that 

none of the three most prominent organized crime groups 

in Hong Kong (the San Yee 

On, the Wo Shing Wo, and the 

14K) are involved in human 

smuggling or human trafficking. Other authorities in Hong Kong likewise said that there 

is very limited trafficking in 

Hong Kong, that the vast 

majority of people moving 

transnationally are smuggled 

(not trafficked), and that this is 

a “mom and pop” industry 

not controlled by organized 

crime. These views reflect 

those of authorities in the 

other locations visited as well. For example, representatives 

of the National Police Administration in Taiwan said there is 

no evidence of human smugglers engaging in other transnational organized crime 

activities, nor are they involved 

with well-established organized crime groups. In fact, as 

previously noted, because the 

judges in Taiwan do not consider human smuggling to be 

an activity of organized crime, 

they do not enforce the Organized Crime Prevention Law 

against smugglers. 

So what is the impact of Asian human smuggling/ 

trafficking on the United 

States? Both the United 

Nations and the United 

27 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

States (in the Department Thailand or elsewhere in 

of State’s annual TIP Report) Southeast Asia. From the 

make much of the connec­ brief descriptions of these 

tion between organized cases, some are clearly 

crime and human trafficking. alleged to have organized 

The 2004 TIP Report con- crime involvement, but a 

cludes that trafficking fuels dozen or so cases over a 

organized crime. As indicated 10-year period does not seem 

above, interviews conducted to be a very large number. 

for this study and examina- Further, Raymond and 

tion of the data from the TIP Hughes’s interview responReports seem to belie that dents in the 2001 study indiclaim—at least as far as the cated that the trafficking 

specific problem of smuggling/ organizations with which they 

trafficking from Asia to the were familiar were mostly 

United States is concerned. small, having only one to five 

Some empirical evidence 

sheds light on the issue. The 

people involved. This supports a “mom and pop” 

characterization rather than 

Raymond and Hughes study22 

tracked incidents of traffickone of organized crime. 

ing to the United States So what does a typical mombetween 1990 and 2000. and-pop case look like? The 

Of 38 specific cases they “News Item” is illustrative. 

described, 18 had an Asian 

connection, particularly from 

NEWS ITEM 

U.S. Federal authorities arrested in Miami a husband and wife team who allegedly smuggled 

thousands of Chinese illegal immigrants into the United States over the past 20 years. Alexandre Wei, a Taiwanese national with French citizenship, and his wife Bing Xei, a Chinese citizen, 

used Miami, Florida, as the U.S. entry point for their clients, who usually ended their round-theworld journey in New York City. In Manila, U.S. and Philippine authorities arrested the couple's 

son Jacques, a suspected co-conspirator, along with six other Chinese. This family of people 

smugglers would first send their clients from China to the Philippines and several other Asian 

countries. They would then be moved to France, Suriname, or the French territories in the 

Caribbean, Jamaica, or the Bahamas. From the West Indies, the illegal immigrants were moved 

to Florida. The illegal immigrants were charged as much as $50,000 each by the smuggling ring. 

—Tanya Weinbert, 


Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida),


November 11, 2003


28
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

The Estes and Weiner 

study23 surveyed a variety 

of sources, including 1,000 

informants in 17 U.S. cities, 

in an examination of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (including trafficking). The study concluded that 

among the “less common” forms of this exploitation w

as 

participation by international 

organized crime networks. 

Only 10 percent of the children they encountered had 

been trafficked internationally, 

and that included from all 

sources (Africa, Central and 

Latin America, and Central 

and Eastern Europe) not just 

from Asia. Thus again, these 

findings do not support a 

belief that human trafficking 

to the United States by Asian 

organized crime is a major 

problem. 

In its survey of 184 State 

and local police departments 

from across the United 

States, Abt Associates24 

asked how many had conducted investigations and 

made arrests for human trafficking (which was among a 

list of transnational crimes 

they asked about). The 

sources of the trafficking were not delineated, but fewer than a third had conducted investigations, and fewer than a quarter had 

made arrests in any instances 

of human trafficking. Extrapo­

lating from this to how much 

of their activity may have 

involved Asian organized 

crime, this would again seem 

to produce relatively small 

figures. 

A review of recent Federal 

indictments involving all 

forms of Asian organized 

crime supports the point further. A request to the Organized Crime and Racketeering 

Section of the U.S. Department of Justice produced 11 Racketeer Influenced and 

Corrupt Organizations (RICO) 

indictments of Asian criminals for a variety of crimes 

in the United States. The 

indictments covered the 

period 1993 to 2002. (These were not all the cases involving Asian organized crime, 

nor a representative sample 

of all the cases. Instead, they 

are simply an opportunity 

sample.) 

Seven of the eleven indictments charged crimes that 

could be construed to be 

related to human trafficking, 

e.g., interstate travel for 

illegal sexual activities, prosti­ tution, kidnapping and hostage taking, asylum fraud, and 

alien smuggling. Perhaps the 

best known of these cases is 

the “Sister Ping” case. Chen 

Chui Ping, who is referred to 

29 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

as “the mother of all snakeheads,” allegedly earned 

$30 million over 15 years 

transporting thousands of 

undocumented Chinese people into the United States. To 

do so, she retained subcontractors in New York and 

other United States cities. 

These included the notorious 

Fuk Ching gang in New York, 

who performed the domestic 

chore of transporting smuggled Chinese from Boston to 

New York City. Apart from 

this connection with a known 

criminal group, Sister Ping 

and her operation very much 

exemplify an entrepreneurial 

criminal network as opposed 

to a transnational organized 

crime group. 

Keeping in mind the proviso 

about representativeness 

above, the first general observation that can be made is 

that seven such cases over a 

10-year period again does not 

appear to be an especially 

large number. Secondly, an 

examination of the details in 

the indictments indicates that 

most of these cases involved 

crimes that were indeed 

organized by opportunistic 

networks, e.g., Sister Ping, 

and not by traditional and 

well-defined Asian organized 

crime groups having the characteristics outlined previously. This reinforces the earlier 

observation that it is the 

opportunistic, rather than the 

organized, crime groups who 

are the key players in Asian 

transnational crime. 

That the transportation of 

human beings across borders 

is a smuggling rather than a 

trafficking issue, that it is 

conducted by entrepreneurial 

criminal networks rather than 

by traditional organized 

crime, and that the estimates 

of victims and cases may be 

overstated does not mean 

that there is no reason for 

concern. There are current 

estimates that some 11 million illegal immigrants are 

living in the United States. 

No one knows how many of 

these may be Asian. What 

can be assumed, however, 

is that any substantial number affects United States 

resources. Demands on education, health care, and social 

services and for jobs have a 

financial impact. This point is 

reflected in a study visit to a 

village near Fuzhou in China 

that has been the source of 

much smuggling of people 

to the United States. There, 

35 to 40 Chinese children of 

preschool age were referred 

to by an official guide as 

“citizens,” as in U.S. citizens. 

They were children born in 

the United States, now being 

raised in China until they 

30 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

reach school age, at which 

point they will return to the 

United States for schooling. 

The costs of educating these 

children—many of whom 

have parents who were illegal immigrants—will obviously have a financial impact on 

the United States. 

Impact on Broader 

U.S. Interests 

Irrespective of how much 

crime emanating from Asia 

may actually show up on 

United States shores, broader United States interests are 

at stake here. These interests 

relate to humanitarian concerns, to business interests, 

to political relationships, to 

investments in training and 

assistance, and to law 

enforcement cooperation. 

The United States does, and 

very much should, have an 

interest in what happens to 

trafficking victims and to persons who are being smuggled across national borders. 

This interest exists apart from 

the question of how many 

such persons actually end 

up in the United States. It is 

a humanitarian and human 

rights issue. As elsewhere in 

the world, the problem in Asia 

requires effort and investment on both the demand 

and supply sides of the 

human trafficking/smuggling 

equation. Economic development and opportunity must 

be coupled with action to 

combat exploitative sex 

tourism, corruption, and official indifference. 

U.S. business interests in Asia 

include casinos in Macau and 

trade in China and Taiwan. 

To the extent that the local 

and regional organized crime 

in these countries penetrates, 

interferes with, and jeopardizes business, it is harmful to 

U.S. interests. A specific 

example of this sort of harm 

is the crime of intellectual 

property theft, including software piracy. All six of the 

criminal organizations surveyed in Taiwan and Hong 

Kong, for example, are reported to be involved in 

pirated CDs and DVDs. In 

the case of the Wo Shing Wo, 

it is said to be the dominant 

activity in which the group is 

involved. A U.S. customs official interviewed in Beijing 

stressed the problem of intellectual property theft as a 

major concern. 

As elsewhere, the United 

States has made a considerable investment in law enforcement training and 

assistance in Asia. The 

United States, for example, 

31 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

operates the International 

Law Enforcement Training 

Academy in Bangkok that 

has trained hundreds of law 

enforcement operatives from 

throughout the region. It is 

obviously in the best interests of the United States to 

see this investment pay off, 

which would lead to more 

effective combating of the 

crime problems described 

herein. With respect specifically to drug trafficking, the 

DEA emphasized in the 

course of this study that 

China is a critically important 

player on the Asian drug 

scene; it was described as 

the key to heroin trafficking. 

What is needed, according 

to the DEA, is more joint 

investigative training and 

exchanges of intelligence 

information between the 

United States and China. 

The United States must balance politically its interests in 

China, Hong Kong, and 

Taiwan. Because the crime 

problems covered by this 

study are, for the most part, 

regional problems, they 

require regional solutions. 

It is in the U.S. interest to 

play the role of honest broker 

in helping the region deal 

with organized crime. 

Finally, a number of law enforcement officials, particularly in Taiwan and China, 

expressed dissatisfaction with 

Interpol and with cooperation 

from U.S. law enforcement. 

Interpol is regarded as basically ineffective. With respect to 

U.S. cooperation, the officials 

complained of essentially 

being ignored when they 

made requests for information 

and assistance. The Mutual 

Legal Assistance Treaty system was criticized as involving 

too much “red tape.” Whatever the merits of these 

complaints, they obviously 

have implications for U.S. 

efforts to secure information 

and assistance for its own 

investigations. 

32 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Conclusion


The National Institute of 

Justice has recognized that 

crime and criminals more and 

more have a global face. This 

recognition means expanding 

NIJ’s international research 

agenda to both better appreciate and to better understand potential threats from 

transnational crime. This 

preliminary assessment of 

Asian organized crime, including the pinpointing of potential research issues of mutual 

interest and the identification 

of potential research partners 

in Asia, lays a solid foundation for that expanded research agenda. 

33 
ASIAN TRANSNA TIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME 

Notes


1. Gilboa, Amit, Off the Rails in 

Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart 

of Guns, Girls, and Ganja, Bangkok: 

Asia Books, 2001. 

2. He Bingsong, Organized Crime in 

China, Beijing: China Legal Press, 

2002 (Chinese language publication). 

3. Smith, Paul, ed., Human Smuggling, Washington, DC: Center for 

Strategic and International Studies, 

1997; Kwong, Peter, Forbidden 

Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants 

and American Labor, New York: The 

New Press, 1997; Emerton, Robyn, 

“Trafficking of Women Into Hong 

Kong for the Purpose of Prostitution: 

Preliminary Research Findings,” Occasional Paper No. 3, Hong Kong: 

University of Hong Kong, 2001; 

Brazil, David, No Money, No Honey!: 

A Candid Look at Sex-for-Sale in 

Singapore, Singapore: Angsana 

Books, 2004. 

4. Chin, Ko-lin, Smuggled Chinese: 

Clandestine Immigration to the 

United States, Philadelphia: Temple 

University Press, 1999. 

5. Chu, Yiu-kong, Triads as Business, 

London: Routledge, 2000. 

6. Lo, T. Wing, Corruption and Politics 

in Hong Kong and China, Buckingham: Open University Press, 1993. 

7. Hill, Peter, The Japanese Mafia: 

Yakuza, Law, and the State, New 

York: Oxford University Press, 2003; 

Kaplan, David, and Alec Dubro, 

Yakuza: Japan’s Criminal Underworld, 

Berkeley: University of California 

Press, 2003. 

8. Kaplan and Dubro, Yakuza: Japan’s 

Criminal Underworld (see note 7). 

9. Santos, Aida, Patterns, Profiles 

and Health Consequences of Sexual 

Exploitation: The Philippine Report, 

Manila: Coalition Against Trafficking 

in Women, 2002. 

10. Chin, Ko-lin, Heijin: Organized 

Crime, Business, and Politics in 

Taiwan, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 

2003. 

11. Chang Tseng-liang, “A Study on 

the Problem of ‘Fake Marriage’ 

Across Taiwan Strait, Focusing on 

Fake Marriage for the Purpose of 

Prostitution,” Central Police 

University Journal of Police Science 

33 (1) (2002): 203–236 (Chinese 

language publication). 

12. Phongpaichit, Pasuk, and 

Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, Corruption 

and Democracy in Thailand, Chiang 

Mai: Silkworm Books, 1994. 

13. Asia Watch, A Modern Form of 

Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese 

Women and Girls Into Brothels in 

Thailand, New York: Human Rights 

Watch, 1993; Brown, Louise, Sex 

Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in 

Asia, London: Virago Press, 2000; 

Jeffrey, Leslie Ann, Sex and Borders: 

Gender, National Identity, and 

Prostitution Policy in Thailand, Chiang 

Mai: Silkworm Press, 2002. 

35 
ISSUES IN INTERNA TIONAL CRIME / JAN. 07 

14. United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention, “Overview of the 40 Criminal Groups 

Surveyed,” Trends in Organized 

Crime 6 (2) (2000): 131–135. 

15. Chu, Yiu-kong, Triads as Business 

(see note 5); Hill, Peter, The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the 

State (see note 7); Zhang, Sheldon, 

and Ko-lin Chin, “The Declining 

Significance of Triad Societies in 

Transnational Illegal Activities,” 

British Journal of Criminology 43 

(3) (2003): 463–482. 

16. Zhang, Sheldon, and Ko-lin Chin, 

“Enter the Dragon: Inside Chinese 

Human Smuggling Operations,” 

Criminology 40 (4) (November 2002):


737–768. 

17. Zhang and Chin, “The Declining 

Significance of Triad Societies in 

Transnational Illegal Activities,” 

463–482 (see note 15). 

18. Raymond, Janice, and Donna 

Hughes, “Sex Trafficking of Women


in the United States,” final report for 

the National Institute of Justice, 

grant number 98–WT–VX–0032, 

2002, NCJ 187774. 

19. Estes, Richard, and Neil Weiner, 

“The Commercial Sexual Exploitation 

of Children in the U.S., Canada, and 

Mexico,” final report for the National 

Institute of Justice, grant number 

1999–IJ–CX–0030, 2002, NCJ 

195561. 

20. Abt Associates, “Survey of 

Practitioners to Assess the Local 

Impact of Transnational Crime,” final 

report for the National Institute of 

Justice, contract number 99–C–008 

T005, Washington, DC, December 

2003. 

21. Lintner, Bertil, Blood Brothers:


The Criminal Underworld of Asia,


New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2002.


22. Raymond and Hughes, “Sex


Trafficking of Women in the United 

States” (see note 18). 

23. Estes and Weiner, “The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of 

Children in the U.S., Canada and 

Mexico” (see note 19).


24. Abt Associates, “Survey of


Practitioners to Assess the Local


Impact of Transnational Crime”


(see note 20).


36 
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Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention, and the 

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