37 suspected triad members arrested
Police arrested 37 suspected triad members, including a 15-year-old boy, and three women on suspicion of unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons after raiding a pub in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday.
Officers suspect they were on their way to a funeral service in Hung Hom to pay their respects to a senior figure of the Sun Yee On triad society.
A police source said: 'One of the arrested is thought to be the faction leader with the rank of a 'red-pole' fighter. Three of his followers are under 18 years old and the youngest is a 15-year-old boy. Our intelligence indicates that the triad faction is active in the Yau Tong area.'
The arrests were made at about 7am after a passer-by stopped officers and said rival triad gangs were negotiating in a pub in Prat Avenue.
The source said: 'Plain-clothes officers were sent to check. Under surveillance, the gang was seen arriving in groups of five to six people and entering the pub.'
Police reinforcements were then called in. At about 7.30am, officers raided the pub and caught 37 men and three women in four karaoke rooms. They seized three machetes and three meat cleavers.
A police spokesman said officers arrested the 40 people, aged 15 to 40, on suspicion of unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons. They were being questioned at Tsim Sha Tsui police station last night.
Police dismissed suggestions the gang was negotiating with rivals.
'Investigations showed that the gang attended a night vigil to kowtow to a senior triad figure at a Hung Hom funeral home on Monday night,' the source said. 'We are investigating whether they gathered in the pub before heading to the funeral home to pay their last respects to the late triad member,' the source said.
