JAPANESE police say Hong Kong triads are behind a wave of immigrant smuggling, jewellery store robberies and credit card forgery - and are also forming alarming alliances with yakuza gangsters.
Triad gangs are building networks in Tokyo and other major cities, leading local officers to seek closer co-operation with Hong Kong anti-gang enforcers.
The warning of a triad advance follows the exposure of an illegal alien racket using Kai Tak airport to smuggle mainlanders to Japan; a series of violent robberies; and bizarre burglaries that were committed by smashing through walls.
These cases indicate that Hong Kong triads are building bases for their criminal activities in major cities in Japan, according to a recent National Police Agency [NPA] report on the foreign crime problem.
In the latest crime blamed on triads, six armed men stole 400 million yen (HK$25 million) worth of jewellery from a store in Tennoji ward, Osaka, on May 28.
NPA assistant director of international co-operation Superintendent Ko Shikata said the SAR gangs often formed alliances for Japanese operations, despite being fiercely protective of their Hong Kong home turf.
Members of the notorious Wo Shing Wo triad teamed up with the lesser-known Fuk Yee Hing for the armed robbery of another jewellery store in the Osaka ward of Naniwa, a crime worth 39 million yen.