Highlights
– Taiwanese migrants bring gang activity to the US, establishing transnational criminal operations
– Weak border enforcement has increased gang access to the US
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Taiwanese law enforcement cracked down on organized crime and made massive arrests of underworld figures. Motivated by the fear of arrest, hundreds of member of Taiwan’s organized crime gangs sought refuge in the US. Many of these criminals fled to Monterey Park outside Los Angeles, California. They focused on this area because of its large Taiwanese immigrant community. The area of Monterey Park quickly acquired the name “Little Taipei.” Similar to its namesake, “Little Taipei” is control by the Four Seas and Bamboo Union gangs.
Distinctions Among Ethnic Chinese Populations
In order to better understand Taiwanese organized crime operations in the US, it is imperative to identify the various distinctions among ethnic Chinese populations. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s migrants from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and various other Southeast Asian nations arrived in the US, predominantly on the Pacific coast. These four ethnic Chinese subpopulations each developed their own communities with not only distinguishable cultural identities, but also independent street gangs and larger criminal organizations. While Taiwanese gangs, like the majority of Asian gangs, established their US networks in California’s cities, over the years gang operations spread to other cities including Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Miami, and Phoenix, among others. According to law enforcement officials, gangs of Asian decent operating in the US are viewed as subordinate units of criminal organizations operating in Asia, regardless of geographic location and membership size.
Similar to operations in Asia, criminal gangs maintain intense rivalry with one another, specifically those gangs descending from the same Asian country. Instigated by financial competition, the violence associated with inter-gang rivalry has gained US media attention. The prevalence of inter-gang violence overshadows more discreet issues such as the trafficking of drugs, arms and people.
Future Threat of Taiwanese Gangs within US Borders
Because of their reputed transnational linkages, Taiwanese gangs operating in the US pose a significant threat to national security. While US authorities often focus their efforts on the Southeast Asian gangs with large domestic membership, including Asian Boyz and the Tiny Rascal Gang, the transnational breadth of Taiwanese gangs could cause more problems for US security. The smuggling networks established within these gangs provide an ease of transport not available to other criminal groups. Increased border security and customs screening at US border entry points offers the greatest prospect of decreasing the smuggling capabilities of Taiwanese criminal gangs. We believe that these processes will be reinforced in the near term.
