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Chinese Criminal
Entrepreneurs
in Canada
VOLUME I
Alex Chung
Transnational Crime, Crime Control and Security
Series Editors
James Sheptycki
Social Science
York University
Toronto, ON, Canada
Anastassia Tsoukala
Sport Sciences
University of Paris 11
Orsay, France
Transnational crime and security are key modalities of governance in a
globalizing world. World-wide, there is a tendency to treat every imagin-
able source of harm as a potential source of insecurity, and therefore as a
crime. The catastrophic imagination is fueled by the precautionary logics
of a world system troubled by systemic risk. As these logics become per-
vasive, security measures are invoked in an effort to control the imagined
sources of harm, and the consequences are not always clear-cut. Further,
the terminology of transnational crime, threat, risk and (in)security (and
the phenomena to which they refer) is substantively deterritorialized,
raising further theoretical and practical difficulties. Research and scholar-
ship concerning these issues touches upon crucial features of the world
system. This series offers wide inter-disciplinary scope for scholarship
exploring these central aspects of global governance and governance
globally.
Chinese Criminal
Entrepreneurs in
Canada, Volume I
Alex Chung
University College London
London, UK
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland
AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
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Acknowledgements
to the courthouses and the documents. In the same vein, to the officers
and clerks of the Provincial Court of British Columbia and the Ontario
Court of Justice, thank you for being enthused about my research and
for tirelessly assisting me day-in and day-out with my file retrieval
requests during my months-long research visits. The Immigration and
Refugee Board of Canada was superbly helpful and efficient in process-
ing my information requests for case files. Thank you for expediting my
urgent requests and for meticulously combing through the files prior to
releasing them.
A number of colleagues and friends contributed immeasurably to my
growth on both the research front and the personal front (titles omitted):
James Ogg, Maria Maras, Stephen Noguera, Melanie Sinclair, Max
Rutherford, Katie Norton, Brian and Maria-Cristina Dorado, Michelle
Grossman, Stan Gilmour, Alisa Stephens, Grainne McMahon, Emma
Disley, Bethan Loftus, Alex Sutherland, Gavin Slade, Andriani Fili,
Jessica Black, Michelle Miao, Yan Du, Kristi Cooper, Yong-Sei Kim, Ana
Aliverti, Shane Mac Giollabhui, Chris and Rachel Giacomantonio, Justin
Abold, Harry Annison, Marie Manakis, Dana Segev, Joe Whittle, Peng
Wang, and Daniel Silverstone.
From the Oxford University Law Faculty, I am indebted to Professor
Denis Galligan and Dr Ying Yu of the One Belt One Road Programme
for the moral support they have given me. Thank you for your confidence
in my work during the drafting of Volume I. The Law Faculty profes-
sional services team played the role of one big, wonderful community
that helped me through a difficult period of writing. My heartfelt thanks
to Karen Eveleigh, Charlotte Vinnicombe, Maureen O’Neill and Family,
Esme Wilks, Clare Oxenbury-Palmer, Michelle Robb, Steve Allen, Bento
de Sousa, the ever so helpful Geraldine Malloy, and the rest of the team.
Dr Madeline Carr provided me with the right head space and envi-
ronment at University College London’s Department of Science,
Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (UCL STEaPP) for the
home straight. Upon meeting Madeline, I knew I was fortunate for a
second time—this time for my post-doctorate work. She is, on both
professional and personal levels, the best mentor and friend one could
hope for. From UCL STEaPP, I thank Michael Veale for casting your
eyes over the drafts; to the late-night crew (titles omitted)—Leonie
viii Acknowledgements
1 Introduction 1
3 BCB Origins 69
4 BCB Organisation 95
7 BCB Structure193
8 BCB Violence225
9 BCB Community247
xi
xii Contents
10 Conclusion281
Appendices285
List of Respondents297
Bibliography301
Index 335
Abbreviations and Acronyms
% Per cent
ATS Amphetamine-type stimulants
BCB Big Circle Boy(s)
CABC Court of Appeal British Columbia
CAD Canadian dollar
CCV Criminal Court of Vancouver
CFDP Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy
CFSEU Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit
CISC Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
CSIS Canadian Security Intelligence Service
CUREC Central University Research Ethics Committee
CV Curriculum Vitae
DEA Drug Enforcement Administration
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FOI Freedom of Information
IIP International Information Programs (US Embassy)
IRB Immigration and Refugee Board
kg Kilogram(s)
lb Pound(s)
MAG Ministry of Attorney General
MDMA 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine
NDIC National Drug Intelligence Center
NZPS New Zealand Police Service
xiii
xiv Abbreviations and Acronyms
Note: North American spelling is used where quotes are cited from publications
and documents (e.g. organization instead of organisation, O1 IRB 2008). British
spelling is used by default and also where verbal communication and interviews
are transcribed by the author.
List of Figures
Fig. 6.1 World map of patterns and trends in heroin and morphine
trafficking in the 1990s. (Reproduced from UN World Drug
Report 2001: 40) 163
Fig. 6.2 Source of origin for US wholesale-level heroin seizures
1977–2012. (Reproduced from US DOJ DEA (2014: 9),
Data source: Heroin Signature Program) 164
Fig. 6.3 Map of the US showing census regions and divisions. (Image
credit: US Census 2015 – www.census.gov)170
Fig. 6.4 Map of 25 of the largest US cities with the most severe illicit drug
problems. (Reproduced from Pulse Check 2004 January: 307) 171
xv
1
Introduction
While I showed that the BCB had been, at one point in time, a single,
unified organisation with a leader at the top of the hierarchy and a full-
fledged membership system, I nonetheless considered the Flaming Eagles
an anomaly during the BCB’s history. Unconvinced that they were repre-
sentative of their Canadian counterparts who were collectively referred to
as the ‘second-generation’ BCB, I subsequently decided to validate the
claim that they operated as a decentralised cellular network.
In my quest to seek information about the BCB, my research brought
me to a number of locations, among other places: In Guangzhou, a
24-hour sauna spa and a game-meat restaurant in the country; in
Vancouver, a human smuggling safe house in Chinatown, a mahjong den
tucked away in the back of a seafood restaurant, and a karaoke bar fre-
quented by gangsters; in Toronto, a nondescript hotel room with its cur-
tains drawn, a rundown apartment in the heart of downtown Chinatown,
and after-hours private establishments; in Ottawa, a house in the suburb
with bulletproof floor-to-ceiling windows; in London, a private eye
makeshift undercover station and London’s Chinatown.
During my fieldwork, I came across mixed views and materials on the
BCB. At the time of writing, the statement below found on the website
of British Columbia’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, the
provincial integrated anti-gang police agency, exemplifies this:
While the likes of the Red Scorpions, the Independent Soldiers and the
UN are referred to as mid-level players, police consider the Hells Angels a
top-echelon criminal organisation, seen in the same light as the Mafia and
the Big Circle gang. (CFSEU 2018)
accounts revealed through interviews. The latter included their mass ille-
gal immigration to Canada, BCB organisational structure and member-
ship system, and their involvement in illicit markets.
There were validity concerns regarding the use of these kinds of data,
which stemmed from potential biases inherent to the background and
experience of the respondents (for interviews) and court witnesses (for
official documents), as well as the jobs and positions of law enforcement
officials and judicial personnel who provided testimonial evidence. For
instance, a criminal who gives interview or testimony may be incentivised
to enhance their reputation by embellishing their connections and glori-
fying their conducts, while the authorities are usually prone to overstat-
ing the structure and prevalence of criminal associations and activities.
Moreover, since a significant portion of the police evidence was based on
wiretapped telephone conversations, it may have been the case that those
who were being intercepted were aware of being listened to, and in an
attempt to deceive the police they would talk strategically (Campana and
Varese 2012; Varese 2011). In addition, the intercepted conversations
were often summarised by the police before being presented in the courts.
When the ‘codes’ and strategic conversations were analysed to produce
summaries, interpretation of the content was necessary which depended
largely on the expertise and discretion of the police. These are some of the
reasons for designing two separate sets of themed research questions, as
mentioned above, according to the two different types of data, so that the
information gathered can be used in a complementary way. All risk and
validity issues and efforts to mitigate them aside, there nonetheless are
still limitations with regard to the data as is always the case with organised
crime research. For instance, reliability issues concerning the representa-
tiveness of the sample and the generalisability of the results is almost
always present in research that involves interviewing subjects associated
with organised crime (Hobbs and Antonopoulos 2014). The reason is
simply due to the scarcity of experts and willing participants.
Notwithstanding this, the information presented in the study was treated
critically by verifying impartial personal accounts using different sources
where possible, and care was taken to omit claims that were regarded as
unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or unbalanced.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
whether he has ever seen the dog, and, if so, he will probably know
who the owner is. And all this information comes at a glance!
The children love basking in the sand; and spend hours playing
with the glistening white and red drifts so plentiful in central and
northern Australia. Little mounds are built, upon which they sit to
defy the others to topple them; and oblong holes are scratched, into
which some of the younger are laid and almost completely covered
with sand. When the buried ones presently throw the sand from their
bodies, the rest of the players scamper off with a hullabaloo and tell
their elders the Kurdaitcha (devil-devil) is coming.
Along the north coast of Australia, the mud-banks of the tidal rivers
are a great source of amusement. When the water recedes during
the heat of day, the young folk make for the blue mud-banks to
indulge in sport and play. Mud-sliding is usually the first item of the
programme. Taking a long run over the firmer ground, the performers
reach the mud-bank with considerable velocity, and in consequence
of this, they slide over the slimy surface in much the same style as
our children in the Old Country do over the ice. They maintain their
balance with their arms. The sliding is effected either singly or in long
chains they form by joining hands. They endeavour to make their
slide reach the water, which, if they are successful, they enter with
no end of splashing and shrieking “Ai! Ai! Ai!”
Another method often tried is to run and then take the “slide” lying
upon chest and belly. As one is sliding this way, he turns his body
round its long axis and eventually disappears into the water. To the
observer a child sliding in this way looks deceptively like a stranded
dugong or other big fish endeavouring to make back to water.
Occasionally one of the sporters breaks the monotony of the game
by negotiating the “slide” with his stern. Or he may bring along a
small oblong sheet of bark, upon which he sits or kneels and propels
himself along with his foot. In modern language this toy might be
called a “mud-scooter.”
On Cambridge Gulf the girls have evolved yet another variety of
this sport. One lies flat on the mud, face downward, whilst another
stands behind her. The one lying now places her arms forwards and
holds the palms of her hands together; at the same time she bends
her legs to a rectangle in the knees, and keeping them together she
holds them rigid in that position. Now the girl standing behind seizes
the legs of the one on the mud at about the ankles and pushes the
human sleigh along the “slide.” As a special favour a piccaninny
might be allowed to take a seat upon the sliding girl’s back.
In the same district the boys delight in carrying each other pick-a-
back to the brink of the softest mud, to precipitate the rider
backwards into the slush or into the water.
To break the monotony, the children place themselves in a row,
each with a number of flattish pebbles previously collected on the dry
land, and take it turn about to pelt the surface of the water at a very
sharp angle in order to make the stone ricochet as many times as
possible.
A new game is begun by the girls stamping the water with their
feet, as at a corroboree; the boys are preparing for a sham-fight.
They cover the whole of their body, including the hair, with thick mud,
which they maintain is the same as the ochre the warriors apply to
their bodies when on the war-path. They pick sides and stand face to
face on a bank, about half a chain apart. Upon a given signal they
commence bombarding each other with mud-balls! One is reminded
of the snowballing feats of European school children. The lads
endeavour to dodge the mud-balls thrown by their adversaries with
as little movement as possible, by just contorting the figure or lifting a
limb to allow a missile to fly harmlessly by. Much gesticulation takes
place during the friendly combat, and often does one hear an excited
“Ai! Ai!” announcing the fact that a player has effected a narrow
escape. The climax, however, is not reached until a hit is recorded,
and a ball, too carefully aimed, spatters the body of a neglectful
opponent. When the game is over, all participants rest for a while
upon the surface of the muddy bank, then dive into the water and
wash the slush from their heated bodies.
At Kurrekapinnya Soakage in the Ayers Ranges the bare, inclined
surface of a granitic outcrop is utilized by the children for
tobogganing. The same track has been in use for so long that the
“slide” has become remarkably smooth from the constant wear. The
tobogganer gathers a bundle of rushes at the soakage and makes
for the top of the outcrop. There he places the bundle upon the
polished “slide,” sits upon it, and starts himself moving down the
slope. Considerable speed is attained by the time he reaches the
bottom of the rock, whence he shoots into the sand adjacent to it.
The performance is repeated over and over again.
The Victoria River tribes arrange competitions among the boys in
tree-climbing, the lads being required to clamber up a number of
selected trees, and down again, in the quickest time possible.
On Bathurst Island a favourite amusement of the younger folk on a
breezy day is to collect the light globular seed-heads of the “spring
rolling grass” (Spinifex hirsutis), that grow on every sandhill near the
coast, and take them to the beach to release them on the hardened
sand. Driven along by the wind, these seeds travel over the surface
at no mean pace. Allowing them to gain a fair start, the children bolt
after them, endeavouring to overtake them and pick them up from
the ground while dashing past at full speed in “cow-boy” fashion.
In the same locality the children assemble on the beach and
compete in running and long jumping.
The Arunndta and Dieri children collect the dry tussocks of the
“roly poly” (Salsola kali) upon a windy day and take them to a big
clay pan. There they liberate them, and, as the wind whips them over
the level ground, the youthful gang makes after them with toy spear
or boomerang, each endeavouring to either stake a tussock with the
first-named weapon or shatter it with the latter.
In the Fowler’s Bay district the tussock is replaced by an artificial
target, such as a ball of fur-string, which is rolled over the surface by
an elder.
The Arunndta boys on the Finke River cut discs out of the bark of
eucalyptus trees, which they roll over the hard ground and chase
with toy spears. In the same district I have seen the bark disc
replaced by an iron ring the boys had been given by a teamster; this
was carefully kept in one of the huts and only produced when the
lads were at liberty and felt inclined “to tilt at the ring.”
PLATE X
2. Ponga-Ponga gin carrying pet opossum on her head while on the march.
“On Sunday Island the bark food-carrier, there known as “oladda,” is used as a
cradle; one might often see a busy mother, attending to duties which occupy her
hands, putting her child to sleep by simultaneously rocking the receptacle
containing it with her foot.”