Abstract
The police had penetrated into the top-level Big Circle Boys (BCB) layer by the mid- to late 1990s. Telecommunication interceptions were the main tool used, and ethnic sameness allowed the technological penetration to succeed through a remote-based low-risk investigative approach. A number of counteraction responses by the BCB to police attacks are discussed. Two forms of decentralisation are distinguished: a closed network with homogenous ethnicity and an open network with heterogenous ethnicity. They represent varying levels of vulnerability to attacks and they respond to attacks differently. The BCB belonged to the former, where although they were prone to attacks, they were able to use their interdependency on shared resources and contacts between cells to respond to police attacks effectively, as Project E-Page showed.
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Notes
- 1.
In contrast to this, the identity of some informants was never revealed during court proceedings. Such informants normally did not become part of the short-term undercover police mandate but only supplied information regularly over a longer period. For this reason, there were few time-sensitive requirements to their reporting routine, as their ability to immerse into the networks without raising suspicions was imperative to information gathering and to their safety. Whether or not they spoke English was of secondary importance as the reporting usually took place after the fact at private meetings with the police alongside an interpreter.
- 2.
Without undercover witness, a case based primarily or exclusively on physical and surveillance evidence is vulnerable to constitutional challenges such as evidence inadmissibility due to the infringement of the accused’s civil liberties. For this reason, drug and money seizures are usually used in conjunction as corroborating evidence to ensure a maximum chance of conviction (Desroches 2005: 179).
- 3.
For instance, if they had agreed to add 4 to digits 1 to 4, and subtract 5 from digits 5 to 9, then when one says telephone number 123-4567 at one end, the other end of the line would translate it into 567-8012.
- 4.
On another occasion, Ho and Tao who were in a joint ecstasy importation venture miscommunicated with regard to whether a company was available in Holland to receive goods from China prior to shipping to Canada. In order to minimise potential errors during shipment receival, Ho separately asked Lee and approached Lam Bill and Sa to find an available company in Holland (SCBC 2002d: Oct 7).
- 5.
In the Cantonese dialect, the intercepted conversation would not sound as bizarre and incomprehensible as it did after English translation, provided that all parties in the conversation were, and understood that they were, speaking within the same context of responsive action to the earlier arrest and seizure. Especially in view of the references to the ‘who’ (Kou Kee arrested), ‘hungry’ (out of drug supply, common slang for traffickers), and ‘you really better whatever’ (expedite redelivery), it would make sense to interpret that they were rushing Yuan Chang to arrange a subsequent delivery of drugs to meet their original request. In this light, therefore, the flaw in their response lies in a lack of proper decision-making mechanism amongst them rather than their inability to understand one another.
- 6.
Details of the telephone intercepts were presented at the preliminary hearings. Guarded conversations between Yuan Chang, Yeu Wing, and Kou Kee indicated that they were talking about getting arrested, where Yeu Wing insisted that the leak came from Yuan Chang’s side, while Yuan Chang countered by saying that since he himself was not arrested, he could not have been the one that was targeted (PCBC 1997, Dec 9: 27–30).
- 7.
Kwok Yung often made calls from public pay telephones, including those to Chi Hang, as the prosecution revealed: ‘This is a common practice of individuals involved in criminal activities, as it is believed calls made from pay telephones are less likely to be intercepted or traced by the police’ (PCBC 1999a: Bail Hearing).
- 8.
Desroches (2005: 172) notes the way some may view the employment of criminals as informants are morally questionable. The agents may regard their contract as a licence to commit illegalities while they maintain their role as drug dealers for their own benefit, and the police cannot do much about it. However, the police do caution agents against illegal conducts outside the investigative mandate for their undercover role, where they constantly monitor the agent’s behaviour.
- 9.
The arrangement between Kwok Keung and Simon Chow with respect to the heroin importation after his arrest was unknown. The probable scenario was that Kwok Keung would have made his initial payment along with other investors on the purchase and transportation of heroin from Burma into China. Then, instead of Simon Chow handling the route from China to Canada, Kwok Keung would have had his personnel attend to the export and import logistics to successfully receive it in Canada. Without contribution to the smuggling route, Simon Chow became a simple shareholder and could only see return on his initial investment upon the successful distribution by his local traffickers in Vancouver.
- 10.
Chi Hang and Hong Gat were both convicted and sentenced for their roles as heroin distributors, which also included charges from Project Eider.
- 11.
Two nodes at the lower right corner represent Wan Kuok Kui and Peter Lee. They were not known to be involved in the importation schemes. Kuok Kui was the infamous leader of the Macao branch of the 14 K triad group. During Project E-Page, Simon Chow was intercepted taking an order from Kuok Kui via Peter Lee to carry out contract killing of Lai Tong Sang, the leader of their rival triad group Shui Fong. Tong Sang migrated to Canada from Macao. The incident resulted in a drive-by shooting attempt at Tong Sang’s home but did not see any fatality.
- 12.
To clarify their similar names, the three actors under discussion are Simon Chow (Kwok Cheung), (Tam) Kwok Chung, and (Chan) Kwok Keung.
- 13.
The emphasis placed on Kwok Chung as a BCB wholesaler with his own source of import sets him apart from other BCB who had mutual buying and selling partnership with Simon Chow (e.g. Wall Yip). The reason is that it takes time, social capital, and financial capital to reach the wholesaler or importer level in the heroin trade. Even when one reaches that level after years of trading, the drug supply may not be constant due to uncertainties and disruptions, as Ho mentioned in his testimony (SCBC 2002c: Sep 25). Therefore, one who is self-sufficient and non-reliant on others for reciprocation of goods when the market is ‘dry’ is an indication of their ability to stay on top of the game, which leads to positive reputation and respect.
- 14.
David Au and Simon Chow were in direct telephone contact with Srisomwong. They discussed potentially meeting up in Asia. During the conversation, Srisomwong said he foresaw difficulties ahead if the deposit was going to be an issue, since he most likely would not have been able to provide an advance payment for the shipment to reach Vancouver before collecting dues (Victoria Packet 3 2001c: Aug 2).
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Chung, A. (2019). Heroin 4: Counteraction Against Police Attack. In: Chinese Criminal Entrepreneurs in Canada, Volume II. Transnational Crime, Crime Control and Security. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05135-8_6
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