Hong Kong police have arrested 125 people in a crackdown on a triad group that monopolised lunchbox supply businesses at construction sites by intimidating and extorting other vendors, while also running multiple illegal gambling dens.
The force said on Monday that it had cracked down on a syndicate that had gained a monopoly over lunchbox catering at private and public housing building sites in East Kowloon in an undercover operation.
“The stable customer base and consistent income of the lunchbox business attracted a triad gang active in Kowloon, which attempted to use illegal and violent means to intervene in and monopolise the construction site lunchbox business,” said acting senior superintendent Au Yeung Tak of the organised crime and triad bureau.
Police arrested 48 men and 77 women, aged 22 to 81, on suspicion of claiming to be members of a triad, extortion, criminal intimidation, money laundering, operating unlicensed restaurants and running gambling establishments.
Among them were an alleged triad mastermind, three key members and five employees.
The suspects drove away competitors using methods such as criminal damage, extortion, intimidation and arson, the force said.
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