Alleged Hong Kong gangster “Shanghai Boy” Kwok Wing-hung has been taken to hospital after complaining of chest pains, after he was arrested on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons, the Post has learned.
Kwok, said to have been the head of the Wo Shing Wo triad society from 1998 to 2000, was under bedside police guard in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei at noon on Monday, a source said.
Kwok, 66, was among five men arrested in Tsim Sha Tsui at about 6.30pm on Saturday after what is alleged to be offensive weapons were discovered in his car.
Officers from the Police Tactical Unit found three men behaving suspiciously in a car which was pulled over pulled in the district’s Prat Avenue. Two other men later returned to the vehicle.
“In the vehicle, officers seized three wooden rods with lengths of between 70 and 90cm and a 65cm-long metal bar,” police said.
Officers arrested the men, aged between 25 and 66, on suspicion of possession of offensive weapons. The source said Kwok was one of the suspects.
Possession of an offensive weapon in a public place is punishable by up to three years in jail in Hong Kong.
The men were taken to Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, where they were held for questioning.
The source said Kwok complained of chest discomfort at the police station on Sunday and that he was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a check-up.
Officers from the Yau Tsim district’s anti-triad squad are handling the case.
Kwok was arrested in 2017 for allegedly laundering more than HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) between 2007 and 2012. The money was believed to be the proceeds of illegal bookmaking.
Kwok has been arrested in the past for criminal intimidation, conspiracy to wound with intent and conspiracy to blackmail in July 2016 after he flew into Hong Kong from Phuket, Thailand.
The wounding case involved a January 2016 incident where a city businessman was injured.
It is understood the blackmail cases date back to between January and April 2016.
Kwok and two rural leaders in 2012 were among 130 people arrested in a police crackdown on two triad gangs suspected of laundering HK$300 million in proceeds of crime.
