Sun Yee On (Sun Yee On / New Righteousness and Peace Commercial and Industrial Guild) is one of the leading triads in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Mainland China

Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

, with the most members – more than 40,000 – worldwide.
It is believed to be active in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and the Netherlands
and in the government of Guangdong Province

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

 in Mainland China.

History

Sun Yee On was founded by Heung Chin, originally from Chiu Chow

Chaozhou

Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...

, in 1919. The organisation, which has direct links to the Chinese central government, is involved in counterfeiting

Counterfeit consumer goods

Counterfeit consumer goods, commonly called knock-offs, are counterfeit or imitation products offered for sale. The spread of counterfeit goods has become global in recent years and the range of goods subject to infringement has increased significantly...

, gambling

Gambling in Hong Kong

Gambling in Hong Kong has been regulated since 1977 when the Gambling Ordinance was enacted in response to frequent gambling in Hong Kong. People gamble in a controlled way as a form of leisure and entertainment. Gamblers that gamble as an obsession are known as "problem gamblers"...

, narcotics

Illegal drug trade

The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...

, clandestine immigration

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...

, prostitution

Prostitution in Hong Kong

Prostitution in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organized prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment , causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation....

, smuggling and extortion. Mainly through ethnic Chinese diaspora, it is thought to extend to the United States, Canada, Thailand, Australia and Central America. (Shanty & Mishra, 2007) The founder was deported to Taiwan in the early 1950s and continued to lead the organization from there. Sun Yee On was allegedly taken over by his eldest son Heung Wah-yim, who ostensibly worked as a law clerk.

1980s' spill

In February 1986 a former Hong Kong police officer, Anthony Chung, who had become a member of Sun Yee On, asked the police for protection. He identified Heung Wah-yim as the leader of the triad and this led to the police arresting eleven members of the Triad on 1 April 1987. Whilst searching Heung Wah-yim's law office they found a list of 900 numbered names which appeared to be the membership roster of Sun Yee On. In October Heung Wah-yim was brought to trial, along with five accomplices who all pleaded guilty. Heung Wah-yim protested his innocence throughout the trial, claiming to be the president of a local chapter of the Lions Club and that the list found in his office consisted of potential donors. Chung and together with another former member were the main prosecution witnesses. On 20 January 1988 the jury found five of the defendants guilty, including Heung Wah-yim who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, acquitting the sixth.

The triad operates vice establishments

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

 in several Tsim Sha Tsui

Tsim Sha Tsui

Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...

 and Yau Ma Tei

Yau Ma Tei

Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...

, or at least did in November 2010 when a 29-year-old alleged office-bearer or "red pole" of the triad, named "Sai B" Chan, was arrested for vice offences and money laundering

Money laundering

Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...

.