Bundles of crisp new bank notes in several currencies, large butcher's knives, PCs, half a dozen iron bars, and several mahjong sets: this is a sample of the material seized by Hong Kong police during an August investigation targeting crime gangs known as triads.
Operation Thunderbolt, supported by police in Macao and neighbouring Guangdong province, consisted of 1,700 raids on suspicious premises including gambling dens, unlicensed bars and warehouses.
Almost 1,200 suspects were arrested on charges ranging from drug trafficking or illegal possession of arms to membership of a criminal organisation, an offence in Hong Kong. Investigators seized about $450,000, along with drugs, contraband cigarettes, pornographic DVDs and large amounts of untaxed petrol.
The triads thrive on the administrative divisions between Macao and its casinos to the west, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou to the north, and the financial centre of Hong Kong.
Chief superintendent Kwok Ho-fai, head of the organised crime and triad bureau, described the situation as stable and said the triads' business interests – which include trafficking, racketeering, forgery, prostitution and gaming – remain unchanged.
After several raids on nightclubs, where ketamine – which has superseded heroin as the most popular drug among young people – was widely available, police attention has switched to boat parties, three of which were raided.
Police used undercover agents to infiltrate the triads. For instance, on Lantau island, at the mouth of the Pearl river, where unemployment among young people makes them easy prey for triad scouts, police sent young officers to be recruited.
Operation Thunderbolt was swiftly followed by the announcement of a crackdown – codenamed Landchaser – on criminals specialising in fake alcohol. Hong Kong police seized 600 branded bottles of whisky and vodka filled with low-grade alcohol.
Hong Kong is one of the world's safest cities, with a very low crime rate.
This story originally appeared in Le Monde