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Triads: Gangs Gone Global
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Key Takeaways
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- Chinese Triads smuggle drugs, run scam centers, and launder money on a global scale.
- Taiwan accuses Triads of promoting Chinese pro-unification narratives.
- US federal law enforcement accuses Triads of working with the Sinaloa Cartel.
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Key Triads
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The “Triads” are profit-motivated criminal organizations that originated in Southern China. They have gained global influence since the 1980s, when China moved towards a market-oriented economy. Beyond China’s borders, the Triads’ implication in local politics, drug smuggling, and AI-powered scam centers have caused diplomatic disputes between China and affected countries. The following are amongst the most influential Triads:
Sun Yee On: Sun Yee On enlists over 25,000 people, making it the largest Triad. The organization has spread from Hong Kong through the Cantonese diaspora and operates across four continents. In the United States of America and Mexico, Sun Yee On allegedly cooperates with the Sinaloa Cartel to move synthetic opioids. Their illegal operations range from drug trafficking to racketeering and money laundering.
14K: 14k is the second largest Triad and Sun Yee On’s primary rival. Originating as an anti-communist organization during the Chinese Civil War, the Hong-Kong-based group has since grown to over 20,000 members. 14K uses front businesses to ship semi-synthetic and syntenic opioids to US and European markets. In Asia, they cooperate with organized crime groups in Japan and the Philippines. As part of this cooperation, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency, 14k smuggled weapons to a Pilipino group in 2003 which later became the Islamic State’s East Asia Province.
Celestial Alliance: Founded by Former Taiwanese MP Lo Fu-Chu, the Taiwan-based Celestial Alliance engages in cross-border illegal gambling, money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and logging operations. Lo Fu-Chu was a political independent and sided with both the pro-unification Kuomintang and pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party during his term in office. He allegedly used his political influence and significant investments in mainland China and Taiwan to obscure illegal activities. He disappeared following his 2013 trial, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Bamboo Union: The Bamboo Union is a decentralized Triad of 20,000 members which operates out of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei. The group smuggles drugs, extorts money, and carries out contract assassinations and kidnap-and-ransom attacks. It has global connections with members in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union. Bamboo Union leadership has ties with the Taiwan-based Chinese Unification Promotion Party, which advocates for Taiwanese reunification with China.
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Figure 1: Key Triads
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Influence Operations in Taiwan
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The incumbent Democratic Progressive Party government of Taiwan has accused Triads of illegally promoting pro-reunification narratives and advocating for CCP interests. Chang An-Lo, the founder of the Bamboo Union, has faced espionage charges for his alleged subversion of Taiwan’s national security. An-Lo has known connections with actors in mainland China, and is accused of using those connections to destabilize Taiwan through promoting pro-unification CCP narratives.
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Cartel Connections
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The incumbent Democratic Progressive Party government of Taiwan has accused Triads of illegally promoting pro-reunification narratives and advocating for CCP interests. Chang An-Lo, the founder of the Bamboo Union, has faced espionage charges for his alleged subversion of Taiwan’s national security. An-Lo has known connections with actors in mainland China, and is accused of using those connections to destabilize Taiwan through promoting pro-unification CCP narratives.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), a federal-level US law enforcement agency, alleges that “Chinese money launderers [work] hand in hand with [Mexican] drug traffickers to try to legitimize profits generated by drug activities.” Over the past five years, there have been multiple cases supporting the DEA’s allegation. In 2024, a DEA report exposed a narcotics smuggling and money laundering network in Los Angeles, California which linked the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel to Chinese organized crime. The $50 million of drug-related assets seized during the operation suggests a significant operational connection between Triads based in China and Mexican cartels.
The DEA document reveals a logistical chain which links Triads to international drug markets. For non-synthetic or semi-synthetic drugs, farmers cultivate raw opioids in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia. Refiners then process the drugs before shipping them to international markets in Europe and the Americas. Fully synthetic opioids, however, often require more robust lab setups. This creates a four-step international logistical chain of supply, refinement, sale, and remittance (figure 2).
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Figure 2: Logistics of the Triad-Cartel synthetic drug trade
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Data Source: Drug Enforcement Administration
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Leveraging GSI’s Expertise in Global Security
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