17 articles
14K (十四K) (triad)
14K (十四K) is a Hong Kong triad society founded in the mid-1940s by the Kuomintang under General Kot Siu Wong, headquartered at 14 Po Wah Road, Canton, with 36 branches; now one of Hong Kong's three largest triads alongside Sun Yee On and Wo Shing Wo.
Bada Rajan
Bada Rajan (Rajan Mahadev Nair), Mumbai underworld don of Tilak Nagar, Chembur; ran cinema ticket black-marketing and hafta rackets, mentored Chhota Rajan, allied with Dawood Ibrahim, and was shot dead outside Esplanade Court in 1983.
Bali Nine
The Bali Nine: nine Australians arrested in Bali in April 2005 smuggling over 8 kg of heroin; ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran executed in 2015; five survivors repatriated December 2024.
D-Company
D-Company (D Company, D-Gang) is the transnational crime syndicate founded by Dawood Ibrahim in 1970s Mumbai, now based in Pakistan, known for narcotics, extortion, the 1993 Bombay bombings, ISI ties, and U.S. Kingpin Act sanctions.
Inagawa-kai (稲川会)
Inagawa-kai (稲川会), a Tokyo-based Japanese designated boryokudan founded around 1949 by Seijo Inagawa in Atami; one of Japan's three largest yakuza syndicates with the Yamaguchi-gumi and Sumiyoshi-kai, once described as second-largest at over 8,600 members.
Israeli mafia
Israeli mafia: family-based mafia-style organized crime groups in Israel active in extortion, drugs, arms trafficking, and loan sharking, concentrated in Tel Aviv, the north, and Arab communities, with rising homicide rates and 2024 anti-crime legislation.
KK Park
KK Park is a large cyber-scam compound in Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar, on the Moei River border with Thailand. Built from 2020 under Karen BGF protection, it trafficked thousands of workers into online fraud until the Myanmar military's October 2025 raid and disputed demolition.
Melbourne tobacco wars
Melbourne tobacco wars: violent turf conflict since March 2023 between organised crime syndicates, notably Kazem Hamad's 'The Commission', over Victoria's illicit tobacco and vape market, marked by 200+ arson attacks, homicides, and escalating police closure and seizure powers.
Muthappa Rai (ಮುತ್ತಪ್ಪ ರೈ)
Muthappa Rai (ಮುತ್ತಪ್ಪ ರೈ), Nettala Muthappa Rai, was a Bengaluru underworld don, later realtor and founder of Jaya Karnataka; deported from Dubai in 2002, acquitted in over a dozen cases, died of brain cancer 15 May 2020 aged 68.
Organised crime in India
Organised crime in India: structured syndicates committing continuing unlawful activity for profit, from Mumbai's D-Company to sand and gold mafias. Governed by MCOCA 1999, UAPA, PMLA, and BNS 2023 Sections 111–112; 840 organised crime cases registered in 2024.
Sumiyoshi-kai (住吉会)
The Sumiyoshi-kai (住吉会) is Japan's second-largest designated yakuza group, headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, a Tokyo gambling-association federation descended from the Meiji-era Sumiyoshi-ikka, renamed in 1991.
Sun Yee On (新义安)
Sun Yee On (新義安) is one of Hong Kong's largest triad societies, alongside 14K and Wo Shing Wo. Founded from a Chiu Chow workers' trade association, it is linked to drug trafficking, the Sinaloa cartel, and major 2025 police crackdowns.
Tong (堂) (organization)
Tong (堂), Chinese for association, names fraternal organizations in North American Chinatowns that provided mutual aid to Chinese immigrants and, in some cases, ran vice businesses; the Hip Sing and On Leong tongs fought 19-year tong wars.
Tong Wars
Tong wars were violent conflicts between rival Chinese-American tongs, notably the Hip Sing Tong and On Leong Tong, in New York, San Francisco, and other Chinatowns from the 1880s to the 1920s, fought over gambling, opium, prostitution, and territory.
Triad (organized crime)
Triad (organized crime) is a Chinese organized crime society linked to secret brotherhood societies founded in Fujian in 1761 or 1762, derived from the Tiandihui.
Yakuza
Yakuza (boryokudan, gokudō): Japan's organized crime syndicates, active since the 17th century, structured on oyabun-kobun bonds, led by the Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai, and Inagawa-kai, legally never banned but restricted since the 1992 Botaiho.
Yamaguchi-gumi (山口組)
Yamaguchi-gumi (山口組), Japan's largest yakuza syndicate, founded 1915 in Kobe by Yamaguchi Harukichi as a dock labor-broking group; designated bōryokudan since 1992, split in 2015 forming the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, with about 3,100 members at end-2025.