Shui Fong (), also known as the Wo On Lok (WOL), is one of the main Triad groups in

Southern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone between ...

, operating especially in Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese communities abroad. Today it is one of Hong Kong's most active triad groups, along with Sun Yee On, 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 Usury, extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of debt collection, collection, and generally operates criminal, outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, ...

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, Y ...

Tsim Sha Tsui Tsim Sha Tsui ( zh, c=尖沙咀), often abbreviated as TST, is an list of areas of Hong Kong, 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 ...

Mong Kok Mong Kok (Chinese language, Chinese: 旺角), also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK, is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward, Hong Kong, Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok. As one of the major sho ...

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.

History

Shui Fong originated from a workers' union of the legacy Hong Kong soft drink company, Connaught Aerated Water Company (), in

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 gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

s in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by 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 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 (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

countries.

Canada

Lai Tong Sang, the alleged "dragon head" (boss) of the Shui Fong in Macau who arrived in Canada on 28 October 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 cit ...

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 Parliament of Canada, federal government's Canadi ...

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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Reports of Shui Fong activity in Ireland date back as far as at least 1983.

United Kingdom

The Shui Fong is active in London,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, Glasgow and

. The group established itself in the United Kingdom shortly after the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and People's Republic of China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance o ...

(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 The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

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 Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

, London on 7 September 1991.

References

External links

Tales From the DragonheadUN body backed Macau deal in corruption case
Nikkei Asian Review, 8 October 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 1930s establishments in Hong Kong Gangs in Vancouver Organised crime gangs of London Organised crime groups in Belgium Organised crime groups in England Organised crime groups in Hong Kong Organised crime groups in Ireland Organised crime groups in Northern Ireland Organised crime groups in Scotland Organised crime groups in the Netherlands Organized crime groups in Canada Organized crime groups in China Organized crime groups in Macau Sham Shui Po Transnational organized crime Triad groups