Discuss how Asian organized crime influences and/or works with Asian street gangs. Highlight how Asian street gangs can be used by Asian organized criminal groups in the United States.
This is a sample from a few classmates that responded.
The Triad crime group has influence over street gangs in both gangs in Asia and the United States. They originally “seized control of the Chinese labor market” around 1850, and since 1900 have leaned into organized crime (Valdez, p. 24). They have divisions of both Chinese street gangs and American street gangs to enforce rules (Valdez, p. 24). They engage in opium smuggling and prostitution. The Triad crime group has a Ladder or vertical gang structure. No one person is the figurehead of the organization. However, there are a multitude of individuals and groups that make up the Triad.
The Triad crime group’s income can come from illegal practices and business done in the United States. They typically do crimes such as racketeering or money laundering (Valdez, Lecture 4 B) through underground markets and exchanges. In recent years, a majority of their money comes from counterfeiting clothes, music, computers (Valdez, Lecture 4 B). These are things Americans buy in major market cities, specifically Chinatowns. Pirated movies were also key to t Triads, and are common in and all gangs. Chinese street gangs are often the ones who sell these products and enforce their presence. They make sure those who need to sell their counterfeit products have their market and ensure other rivals will not ruin their income.
Another organized crime group in the United States is the Tongs. Tongs are “Chinese working groups that formed based on the type of work done” (Valdez, p. 25). They also have lower level gangsters to enforce their rules so their businesses can flourish. Regular street gangs can be criminally influenced to maintain power, and they help leaders call shots by not getting their hands dirty. Street gangs like Wah Ching and Ghost Shadows who are associated with the Tongs often establish turf, sales, and engage in violence (Valdez, p. 26). They sometimes even do contract killings. Some Tongs are tied to the Triad crime group, and both have their influences globally.
One example of Tong crime was the Hop Sing Tong. They came to America to influence and control the Asian street gangs. They were engaged in loan sharking, illegal gambling and sometimes drug sales (Valdez, Lecture 4 B). They catered to both Americans and the Chinese. The Hop Sing Tong were selling illegal fireworks, which were popular for 4th of July and Chinese New Year. Two street gangs, the Wah Ching and Joe Boys, became rivals over firework sales. This eventually led to a shootout, killing five people (Valdez, Lecture 4 B). One thing that makes the Tongs and other organized crime groups so difficult is that not all members are in street gangs (Valdez, Lecture 4 B). Some work legitimate businesses, while others are engaged in underground crime.
Another Asian crime group is the Yakuza. They are a Japanese organized crime group with a similar gang structure to the Italian mafia (Valdez, p. 25). The Yakuza are very active in America. They make investments for capital and other financial benefits in America, as well as using America as a source of weapons. The Yakuza also have street gangs that work for them and engage in violence, to maintain their power. They attack both their own communities as well as other communities with the street gangs. They have a worldwide organization with over 100,000 members which helps them operate in different parts of the world.
Asian crime groups often recruit smaller asian street gangs to do their dirty work. They work their way up and the street gangs sometimes can morph into organized criminal groups. The street gangs can also become branches within large organizations. Asian crime groups believe they are “not a street gang and the members will continue to get involved in more serious criminal activity” (Valdez, p. 11). This allows them to continue their influence in America and other parts of the world. Violence, like every other gang, is still important to these gangs. Asian crime groups are global, but have heavy influence in America.
Citations
Valdez, A. (2009). Gangs: A guide to understanding street gangs. Law Tech Publishing
Valdez, Al. (2021). “Lecture 4 B.” SOC SCI 164B: Domestic Gangs. University of California, Irvine, 11 Aug. 2021, Class lecture.
Another sample
Discuss how Asian organized crime influences and/or works with Asian street gangs. Highlight how Asian street gangs can be used by Asian organized criminal groups in the United States.
For many years, Asian immigrants and refugees have come to the United States in search of refuge, jobs, and education. In recent years, there has been an increase in high school and college completion, with 90% of American adults completing high school (Valdez, “Lecture”). Upon entering the U.S., culture shock was the main perpetrator in the marginalization of Asian youths, which later influenced gang membership (Valdez 1). Many first-generation immigrant youths learned to adapt to Western culture while their parents and elders tried to maintain traditional values from their home countries. Consequently, this led to conflicts and provoked some Asian youths to stray away from their families. The social exclusion and victimization of these youths caused them to become outcasts within their own communities, which in turn led to the formation of Asian street gangs in America.
Compared to their Western counterparts, Asian street gangs are more mobile, flexible, and overall more sophisticated (Valdez 2). Most Asian street gangs are nomadic and do not claim a geographical-based turf, which contributes to gang mobility. Some gangs have even developed an informal network of contacts and communication across the world to facilitate travel and globalization. For instance, Asian gang members can be in California one day and Texas the next (Valdez 2). Today, many Asian street gangs still target other Asians with the same ethnic background, and many of them have become more organized and efficient when planning and executing crimes. Home invasion robberies, cellular telephone cloning, and fraud are just a few criminal activities that some Southeast Asian gangs carry out to make money.
Just as Western gangs are known for selling drugs, Southeast Asian gangs are known for home invasion robberies. The amount of planning and execution that goes into a single robbery is what separates and sets them above their street gang counterparts. Most Southeast Asian street gangs prey on their own people, and once a target has been selected, a thorough background check on the victim and family is completed before the robbery (Valdez 15). Asian gang members can also stalk their target and place the victim under close surveillance for several days before attempting the home invasion. This would allow gang members to gain information on the victim’s routines. Furthermore, home invasion robberies can result in physical and sexual assault, which is seldom reported because it is seen as taboo by Asian cultural and social standards (Valdez 17). In addition to these standards, violence and blackmail contribute to Asian street gangs’ success with home invasion robberies.
Many Asian street gangs have become technologically advanced, allowing them to be involved in non-violent crimes, such as cell phone cloning and fraud. Cell phone cloning steals a phone’s ESN and MIN by illegally capturing the radio wave transmissions from the phone of a legitimate subscriber and reprograms the ESN/MIN combination into another phone (Valdez 18). This essentially allows multiple people to simultaneously use the same telephone number, with gang members profiting off the cloned cell phones. Southeast Asian gangs are also involved in check and credit card fraud. Checks can be cashed by altering the information scanned into a computer, and credit cards can be fraudulently altered using a computer software (Valdez 19). This allows some Asian street gangs to work alongside organized criminal groups while making money with minimal criminal exposure.
Regardless of past rivalries, older members of Asian street gangs typically work together to commit non-violent crimes or act as the muscle for organized criminal groups (Valdez 23). With modern-day technology and easy access to the World Wide Web, Asian gangs can effectively use the Internet to commit non-violent financial crimes. They can use and manipulate technology to illegally obtain information to commit fraud or sell counterfeit products. Organized crime is a group of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to make money engaging in illegal activities (Valdez 29). In cases where organized crime is local, the group may need additional protection, and this is when street gangs are called in to be the “muscle.” Members of Asian street gangs may be hired by organized criminal groups to do the physical hardships and protect them from authorities.
Asian street gangs generally work with organized crime for monetary incentives. Unlike the formal leadership structure of Asian organized crime, Asian street gangs typically do not follow and have a well-defined leadership. Many Asian gangs are nomadic and do not claim turf. They do, however, see violence as a tool and use intimidation to blackmail their victims into keeping quiet from the authorities. Contrary to Western street gangs, Asian gangs often do a lot of planning and assessing before they commit a crime. In addition to home invasion robberies, trends also suggest that some Asian gangs are becoming more involved in non-violent crimes and working with organized criminal groups.
Works Cited
Valdez, Al. “Asian Gangs.” Gangs: A Guide to Understanding Street Gangs, 2011, pp. 1-32.
Valdez, Al. “Lecture Week 3A.” SOC SCI 164B: Domestic Gangs. University of California, Irvine, 2021. Lecture.
0 comments