‘A blight on society’:Chinese gangs responsible for kidnappings, drug smuggling in Canada, immigration hearing told

Dene Moore, Canadian Press | February 28, 2013 | Last Updated: Feb 28 9:21 PM ET
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David Clark / Postmedia News FilesThe house owned by Lai Tong Sang, pictured, the alleged leader of Macau’s notorious Shui Fung, or Water Room gang.

Lai Tong Sang immigration hearing: Asian gangs extend into Canada

The invasive presence of Asian organized crime in Canada involves everything from kidnapping and extortion to drug smuggling, one of the country’s foremost experts on Asian organized crime said Thursday at an immigration hearing for an alleged triad boss.

Vancouver Police Det. James Fisher told an Immigration and Refugee Board member of the origins of Asian triads, and the worldwide networks they now control — including in Canada.

“Some believe that the history of triads began in the 17th century, and the original groups were formed in opposition to the ruling dynasty and operated as secret societies with the goal of overthrowing that dynasty and replacing it with a native Chinese dynasty,” said Fisher, the third and final witness called by Canada Borders Services at the hearing for Lai Tong Sang, a man alleged by police to be the head of Macau’s notorious Shui Fung, or Water Room gang.

Whatever their origins, Fisher testified, they are now criminal organizations with the sole purpose of profiting by crime.

They serve no real purpose to aid legitimate society

“My own opinion is they serve no other purpose,” the former gang expert for the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada testified. “No political purpose, no brotherhood purpose. My own experience is they’re a blight on society and they serve no real purpose to aid legitimate society.”

He said tentacles of international gangs such as the Lotus Gang, the Big Circle Boys, 14K and Shui-Fung, the triad allegedly headed by Lai in Macau, reach into Canada.

“Most of the triads that we have encountered in Canada have an origin in Hong Kong but they operate independently in Canada,” Fisher said. “For example, 14K in Vancouver would have a leader here that controls a number of people. He would be related to Hong Kong through a brotherhood, but would not necessarily have to follow orders handed down by Hong Kong.”

Canada Border Services Agency alleges this is the world inhabited by Lai, and they want him declared inadmissible because of his criminal ties. They’re also seeking to have Lai’s wife, two daughters and his son declared inadmissible for misrepresenting themselves on immigration applications.

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The board has already heard that police believe Lai was fleeing a bloody gang war in Macau when he brought his family to Canada in 1996.

According to reports at the time, Lai originally applied for immigration status to Canada in Hong Kong in 1994 but his application was not approved because of his suspected links to organized crime.

In March 1996, Lai reapplied in Hong Kong and then quickly withdrew his application. A couple of months later, he applied at the consulate in Los Angeles, where his application was approved without a background check or so much as a phone call to Hong Kong.

Lai and his family arrived in Vancouver on Oct. 20, 1996.

A former Canadian visa officer told the hearing that police in China claimed Lai put out contracts on the lives of three of his gang rivals — two of which were successful.

Canadian investigators also uncovered a contract put out on his life and warned Lai prior to a drive-by shooting at his home in 1997.