The underworld in Hong Kong mainly seeks funds and profits by engaging in prostitution control, extortion of protection fees, usury, drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, and even making and selling pirated CDs. Many members, after obtaining original capital through illegal means, spread their funds to legitimate businesses, such as restaurants and karaoke bars.
At present, there are about 50 underworld organizations in Hong Kong, among which more than a dozen are the most active, including "Xinyi 'an", "14K", "Heshenghe" and "Hetao" which are well known to Hong Kong people.
Triads in Hong Kong are linked by many different independent groups. Although they adopt similar organizational structure, personnel level and membership ceremony, they are not a subordinate organization. For example, "Jingyi" was originally developed from "faithfulness and security", but members of "Jingyi" did not accept the instructions of "faithfulness and security".
The actual strength of triad societies in Hong Kong is at the regional level. Usually a triad employee (usually a red stick) leads a core member group with more than 10, and controls a "territory" through violent means. This territory is the sphere of influence. Usually, there is only one street, a building, a football field or a park in a place. Because of the loose underworld organizations, different organizations in the same guild hall in different regions may not belong to the same department. Strong leaders may not be able to give orders to other leaders, and sometimes they will kill each other for the benefit.
You may ask why the underworld wants to control a football field, because there are relatively many young people who have no intention of learning (don't get me wrong, I don't mean that every young person who loves playing football has no intention of learning), and it is easier for the underworld or the underworld to develop young new members there, that is, "kicking people into clubs."
With the gradual prosperity of Hong Kong society, Hong Kong underworld organizations have no social and economic conditions to meet the comprehensive needs of their members, which makes them work hard for the organization. As a result, the structure of modern underworld organizations has become quite flexible, from the traditional eighth order to the third order (red stick, forty-nine sons, blue lanterns). The complicated initiation ceremony in the past has also been simplified, but now the most popular one is "hanging blue lanterns" (commonly known as "and big brothers"), which is only a verbal agreement, and there is no formal initiation ceremony.
There is a department within the Hong Kong Police Force called the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, which mainly investigates complex organized crimes and serious triad crimes. The Organized Crime and Triad Bureau pools resources and expertise from all sides to combat complex organized criminal activities, including triad or triad activities, and to identify, freeze and confiscate assets involved in criminal activities. It also liaises regularly with mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies to exchange information and combat and prevent illegal activities. The Hong Kong Police Force has specialized anti-triad experts to provide support for the police's anti-triad operations and court prosecutions.
In Hong Kong, it is a criminal offence to claim to be a member of a triad society.