Vietnamese criminal underworld

Xã hội đen, (chữ Nôm: 社會顛, literally means "black societies"), is a Vietnamese term used to describecriminal underworld. The term is believed to have become widely used thanks toHong KongTV series and movies about the Chinese secret society ofHeishehui(Chinese:黑社会).An individual who participates in these criminal activities can be called agiang hồ,găng-xtơ,côn đồ,ortội phạm;while a criminal organization is known asbăng đảngorbăng nhóm, depending on its scale.They are those whose goal is to make money fromillegaland overallimmoralactivities.
According to the law of theSocialist Republic of Vietnam, under Clause 1, Article 8 of the 2015 Criminal Code:
Joining a criminal organization is considered to be a "very serious crime" in Vietnam.For example, a person who illegally transported goods or money across the border could "face a penalty of up to 2 years community sentence or 3–24 months' imprisonment;"but the same crime if committed by a member of an organized group would be liable for "a penalty of 2–5 years' imprisonment."
Although the law would also makepolitical groups, such asViệt TânandDTVNCH,criminal organizations,they are not part ofxã hội đenas their stated aim and genesis is ideological rather than commercial.
Small group of criminals,băng nhóm, has simple structure. It is organized loosely with a small number of members. The leader is calledđại caorbăng trưởng. They act aggressively and mostly commit crimes such as murder, robbery, theft, and fraud. These small groups may band together to form a larger syndicate or find protectorate from an already existed one.
A larger criminal syndicate,băng đảng, has a clearer, more sustainable organizational structure with long-term operational goals. The leadership can have one or multiple people, but there is one individual at the top known astrùm. Below them is the command level with people who would be in charge of smaller groups within the syndicate. Ordinary members, known asđàn em, are those who directly carry out criminal acts, as well as all tasks assigned by the leaders.
For example, during the 1960s inSouth Vietnam, there was a powerful gang led by the infamousĐại Cathay, thetrùmof his gang and the "Brother of all brothers" (Vietnamese:Đại ca của các đại ca).Along Đại were several members that assisted his leadership:cánh tay trái"H đầu bò" (H the bull head),cánh tay phải"Lâm chín ngón" (Lâm the nine fingers), andquân sư"Hoàng guitar" (Hoàng the guitarist).The gang bosses that submitted to Đại Cathay were Huỳnh Tỳ and Ngô Cái, who were respectively known as "Second Brother"and "Third Brother".
Vietnamese drug lords control territories in thenorthwestern provinces. Because Vietnam is located near theGolden Triangle, its heroin trade is concentrated along its borders with Laos and Cambodia.Since 2019, not only has Vietnam become a drug market but also a transit port that criminals use to traffick drug to other countries.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese illegal trafficking groups control areas inHồ Chí Minh City. Their networks have been linked to the human-trafficking and human-smuggling markets, the ivory- and pangolin-trafficking markets, illicit logging operations, arms trafficking, and drug-trafficking markets.
Foreign-based gangs such as theKorean mafiaand theJapanese yakuzaare also reported to have activities in Vietnam.
In 1865, the China-basedbrigandBlack Flag Armycrossed the border fromGuangxiinto northern Vietnam, created a profitable extortion network along the course of the Red River. The group later joined forces with theQingand theNguyễnto fight off the French.
In 1945, various groups of gangsters unified into an organization calledBình Xuyên, led byBa Dương. Before that, in the 1920s, Ba Dương was already the leader of a coalition of river pirates. In 1949, Bình Xuyên became a legitimate military organization. In 1954, Bình Xuyên controlled nearly the entire supply of opium of Vietnam. In 1955, Bình Xuyên was defeated in theBattle of Saigonand was disbanded.
Saigon in the 1960s saw the rise of four powerful Vietnamese gangs, whose leaders are known as "Four Great Kings" (Vietnamese:Tứ đại thiên vương) and were behide almost all of criminal activities and rackets within the city:
Beside the "Four Kings", there was also an infamousChinesecrime bosscalled Tín Mã Nàm (nicknamed "Mad Horse"). He was considered as the "Triad King"ofChợ Lớnand was said to be the second highest-ranking member ofHồng Môn, atriadfrom China, behind only Hoàng Long ("Yellow Dragon").
In 1964, Đại Cathay's gang and Tín Mã Nàm's triad clashed in a bloody fight. Although Mã Nàm won, the battle had caused many people to avoid his casinos and his business sharply declined. Tín Mã Nàm was then forced to call for a negotiation with Đại where he and many of the Chinese gangs in Chợ Lớn decided to give up away the areas between Nancy market and District 1 to Đại Cathay's gang.
In 1966, Tạ Vinh, aChinesebusinessman, was arrested due to some conflicts with the government. Triads in Chợ Lớn andHongkongtried to intervene by sending a petition to the embassy of theRepublic of Vietnamin Taipei,Taiwan, but failed. Tạ Vinh was publicly executed on March 14.
In November 1966, Đại Cathay was arrested and placed in Phú Quốc Prison. On January 7 of 1967, Đại and his men escaped from the camp, but when he passed through the front gate, the alarmed sound, alerting the guards surrounding the prison. Discovered, Đại was chased to the North part of the island, but the guards never found him and he was never heard from again.
Following 1975 and thereunification of Vietnam, the era of Four Great Kings of Saigon came to the end. This, however, had allowedNăm Cam, a former follower of Đại Cathay, to developed a powerful criminal organization and dominated the South. He is said to have gone on a 15-year long killing spree in order to eliminate his rivals, and is considered as the "Godfather" of Vietnam.
Meanwhile in the North, four crime bosses also appeared:
At one point, both Năm Cam and Dung Hà joined forces to attack Lê Ngọc Lâm (nicknamed "Lâm chín ngón"), another former member of Đại Cathay. In 2000, Dung Hà was assassinated as she tried to expand her operation toHồ Chí Minh City. In 2001, both Năm Cam and Hải Bánh, along with other gang members were arrested. Cam was executed while Hải was imprisoned until 2022.
Vietnamese-Americangangs had their genesis in southernCalifornia, typically commit home invasion robbery against Vietnamese and other Asian refugee families. The kidnapping of young girls is also common with many are forced into having sex, doing drugs, and committing criminal offenses.Vietnamese gangs are known to be highly mobile, often travel interstate, perpetrating a variety of criminal acts in a short period of time. They are considered to be less organized but more violent thanethnic Chinese organized crime groups. Ethnic Chinese from Vietnam (sometimes calledViet-ching) often play an important role as members of Vietnamese gangs or as links between Vietnamese and Chinese criminal organizations
Vietnamese gangs have emerged as dominant and violent criminal organizations inToronto's Chinatown area, with many of them were hired by already-established Chinese triads to work as street enforcers. While for the most part, these gangs have on businesses within their community, it seems that they are looking to expand their activities to the outside business community. There are three levels in Vietnamese criminal organizations. First is the organized crime level representing the geographically anchored hierarchy, second is the street gang level which carries out directions from the organized crime level leadership, and last is the action-set which consists of young males aspiring to gain membership in the street gangs.
There has been concern expressed about the growth of ethnic Vietnamese criminal groups inAustraliafor a decade. Vietnamese gangs are heavily armed and have established links with Australian crime figures. They mainly involve in crimes against their own community including murder, extortion, robbery and petty drug dealing, with standover and extortion being the most common. Vietnamese criminal organizations are known to organize heroin shipments, either independently of or in association with established Chinese heroin trafficking operations. An increasing amount of heroin coming to Australia appears to have been transhipped through Vietnam.Australian policeshave significant difficulties in counteracting Vietnamese organised crime due to a lack of Vietnamese police officers, consequent language barriers, and a common mistrust of government agencies by migrants from Vietnam.
The impact of gangsters such asĐại CathayandNăm Camhas created a generation that admired thexã hội đenculture. One notable example isKhá Bảnh, aYouTuberknown for creating videos that showed him as a man of honor who possesses manymoral principles of agiang hồ.