Shui Fong (水房幫 - Lit. ''Water Room Gang''), also known as the Wo On Lok (WOL), is one of the main
Triad groups in
Southern China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
, operating especially 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 Delta i ...
,
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
and
Chinese communities abroad.
Today it is one of Hong Kong's most active triad groups, along with
Sun Yee On
Sun Yee On ( zh, t=新義安), or the New Righteousness and Peace Commercial and Industrial Guild, is one of the leading triads in Hong Kong and China. It has more than 25,000 members worldwide.
It is also believed to be active in the UK, the ...
,
14K and the "Wo" family of triads, especially the
Wo Shing Wo. It runs
extortion operations,
loan shark
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
ing,
narcotics and the control of nightclubs,
mahjong dens and
massage parlours. According to police, its turf extends across
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.
Name
''Yau Ma Tei'' is a phonetic transliteration of the name (originally written as ) in Cantonese. It can also be spelt as Yaumatei, ...
,
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsi ...
,
Mong Kok
Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...
and
Sham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...
.
[
In Macau, Shui Fong is one of the "Four Major Gangs" (), the others being Wo Shing Yee, 14K and the ]Big Circle Gang
The Big Circle Gang is a Chinese triad which was established in Hong Kong in the 1970's. They were given the moniker "Big Circle Gang" and were formed by former members of the Red Guards, a paramilitary organization established by Mao Zedong du ...
.
History
Shui Fong originated from a workers' union of the legacy Hong Kong soft drink company, Connaught Aerated Water Company (), in Sham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po is an area of Kowloon, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei (). It is located in and is the namesake of the Sham Shui ...
in the 1930s.[Bitter power struggle as election looms for Wo On Lok triad]
SCMP, 24 February 2013
It was allegedly involved in a fight for casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s in Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
during the 1990s. They were involved in a high-profile gang war with perennial rivals the 14K, led in Macau by 'Broken Tooth Koi' during this period.
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 Delta i ...
in 2009, the group elected as leaders 'Fei Wai' and 'Sam Chuen'. However, when the pair refused to stand down in 2011, a series of violent and very public confrontations ensued between their supporters and those of two rivals - known as 'Chi Fung' and 'Dai Ma', lasting into 2013.[
On 15 January 2010, a 15-year-old boy was killed during a clash between 14K Triad and Shui Fong members at Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate. Fifteen people were arrested in connection with the boy's murder, aged 15 to 22. The victim died after being punched, kicked, and hit by glass bottles.
]
International activity
Benelux
Shui Fong is one of seven triad groups documented as being active in the Benelux
The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...
countries.[ ]
Canada
Lai Tong Sang, the alleged "dragon head" (boss) of the Shui Fong in Macau who arrived in Canada on October 28, 1996 on a permanent resident visa, was ordered deported from the country in August 2013 after he was deemed not admissible due to his ties to organized crime. Lai was the target of a drive-by shooting at his Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
home in July 1997. A 14K member in Hong Kong had asked the 14K in Canada to kill Lai in relation to the conflict between the rival groups in Macau at the time. Documents filed with the Federal Court of Canada
The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. O ...
show that Lai laundered millions of dollars in Canada as immigration officials waited over a decade for access to police wiretap information that allowed them to move to have him deported.
Ireland
The Shui Fong operates in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
and Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
. Reports of Shui Fong activity in Ireland date back as far as at least 1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
.
United Kingdom
The Shui Fong is active in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
. The group established itself in the United Kingdom shortly after the Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...
(1984), when news of Hong Kong's return to China caused many gang members to flee to the UK. In comparison to other triad groups in the UK, the Shui Fong engages in lesser crimes such as video piracy, counterfeiting and illegal gambling, although also carries out extortion on the Chinese community.
Restaurant owner and alleged Shui Fong "white paper fan" (business adviser) Philip Wong was murdered by a gang of contract killers armed with machetes in Glasgow on 9 October 1985. It is believed Wong was murdered after refusing to do business with the Wo Shing Wo who wanted a share of his lucrative Chinese video rental business. Three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.
In the first British court case in which a member of a Chinese criminal society gave evidence, five alleged Shui Fong members – Jason Shui Cheung Wan, Tak Kam Chow, David Chong Chi Chan, Danny Wai Yuen Liu, and Wai Wan Ho – were acquitted at the Old Bailey in London in December 1992 of plotting the shooting of Hong Kong businessman Ying Kit Lam. A sixth man, Clifford Wai Ming Tang, was discharged after the jury could not agree on a verdict. George Wai Hen Cheung, who pleaded guilty to shooting Lam, had named the six men as accomplices. Georcge Cheung himself had been initiated into the Triad in the basement of the Princess Garden Restaurant on Greyhound Road, Fulham earlier that year. Lam, who was allegedly attempting to take control of the Shui Fong in the UK, was left crippled after being shot four times in Chinatown, London
Chinatown is an ethnic enclave in the City of Westminster, London, bordering Soho to its north and west, Theatreland to the south and east. The enclave currently occupies the area in and around Gerrard Street. It contains a number of Chin ...
on 7 September 1991.Five cleared of Triad plot to kill businessman: David Connett reports on the first British court case in which a member of a Chinese criminal society gave evidence
/ref>
See also
* Organised crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
References
External links
Tales From the Dragonhead
UN body backed Macau deal in corruption case
Nikkei Asian Review, October 8, 2015
Ng Lap Seng sentenced to four years in prison in UN bribery case
Macau Daily Times, 14 May 2018
{{Organized crime groups in Asia
Sham Shui Po
Triad groups
1930s establishments in Hong Kong
Transnational organized crime
Organised crime groups in Belgium
Organized crime groups in Canada
Gangs in Vancouver
Organized crime groups in China
Organised crime groups in England
Organised crime gangs of London
Organised crime groups in Hong Kong
Organised crime groups in Ireland
Organized crime groups in Macau
Organised crime groups in the Netherlands
Organised crime groups in Northern Ireland
Organised crime groups in Scotland