The Big Circle Gang is a

Chinese triad A triad ( zh , t=三合會 , s=三合会 , cy=sāam hahp wúi , j=saam1 hap6 wui6‑2 , hp=sān hé huì , first=t,j ) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China and has outposts in various countries with signific ...

which was established in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in the 1970's. They were given the moniker "Big Circle Gang" and were formed by former members of the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

, a paramilitary organization established by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

. After Mao eventually ordered a crackdown on the Red Guards using the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA), many former members of the organization were imprisoned in China. However, some former Red Guards fled as refugees to Hong Kong, where they "turned their military prowess to crime", according to a Canadian court record, forming the triad known as the Big Circle Gang. The triad now thrives among the unregulated factories and underground banks of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, and especially in the city of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

; they were nicknamed the "Big Circle Gang" after a drawing on a map indicating in which part of China they operated. They spread rapidly across Canadian cities in the 1990s, and confidential informants say Big Circle Boys are trusted bonding agents among many actors in fluid networks of Asian drug-trafficking. They controlled much of the heroin trade in central China and now control a vast percentage of the heroin and fentanyl distribution business in the United States and Canada. The Big Circle Boys are a transnational organized crime syndicate. On 22 January 2021, as part of Operation Kungur, Dutch police arrested

Tse Chi Lop Tse Chi Lop ( zh, , first=t, t=謝志樂, s=谢志乐, p=Xiè Zhìlè, j=Ze6 Zi3-lok6, born 1963) is the alleged drug lord, kingpin behind Asia-Pacific based international crime syndicate, crime supersyndicate Sam Gor, also referred to as "The C ...

, alleged to have assumed the leadership of the organisation and having taken it to higher levels as Sam Gor (''The Company''), with the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime putting the larger syndicate's turnover at $8-18 billion in 2018.One of Asia’s biggest crime bosses is arrested: Tse Chi Lop’s drug-trafficking syndicate has spread across the world
, ''The Economist'' Jan 30th 2021

References

External links

* ttp://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/16/1039656340452.html Raid revealed extortion gang's strength (Sydney Morning Herald)br>Askmen
New York Times (December 30, 1995)
Woman loses deposit on US$11 million Vancouver mansion, after abandoning purchase because Big Circle Boys triad boss Raymond Huang was murdered there
Ian Young. {{Organized crime groups in New York City Triad groups Organized crime groups in China Organised crime groups in Hong Kong Organized crime groups in the United States Gangs in Asia Chinese gangs Gangs in Vancouver Gangs in Toronto Asian-American gangs Jewel thieves Gangs in Hawaii