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A FEUD between rival triads that has resulted in at least three murders over 10 years is set to become even bloodier with the murder of a senior gang member recently.

  The battle between the Shui Fong and the Wo Shing Wo spilled onto the streets of Macau on June 5 when Shui Fong member Heung Kim-pui, 34, was stabbed to death.

  Heung was attacked in the lobby of the Nam Fong Building near the Kingsway Casino where he worked, and died from a dozen wounds to his body an hour after being admitted to hospital.

  Macau police arrested one Hongkong man, nicknamed ''Fatty Pui'', after the attack and fired two shots at three other men who fled in a car which was abandoned near the Guia Tunnel.

  The gangs operate in private rooms in casinos where they receive a cut of about two per cent for the sale of gambling chips.

  The Kingsway allegedly has strong underworld connections including the Sun Yee On.

  The latest attack is understood to be linked to a power struggle in Macau between the two triads, which has resulted in at least four attacks on senior gang members in the past year.

  A wealthy Zhuhai businessman who regularly gambles with $1 million is believed to be at the core of the latest round of violence.

  The gangs have been fighting for the patronage of the high-roller which could yield them $20,000 per session.

  Heung, a Hongkong resident, was a close friend of Wong Chi-kwan, the head of the Shui Fong, also known as the Wo On Lok, in Macau.

  Wong and Heung were believed to have been partners in a private gambling room in the casino and in the racket of running foreign gambling groups.

  Wong, who also worked at the Kingsway Casino, was killed on March 15 by two gunmen at a restaurant where he was dining.

  The Macau Judiciary Police said he was hit by seven bullets from a .45 pistol and .32 revolver, an unusual weapon only believed to have been used in one other murder, that of a Hongkong police sergeant in 1982.

  Officials expected a gangland war after Wong's death and increased surveillance of known triads and all entry points into Macau.

  The murder followed an attempt on November 27 last year when two gunmen fired four shots at Wong and Heung outside the entrance of the Kingsway but failed to hit them.

    The botched attempt followed an attack on a senior Wo Shing Wo member, known as Simon, at the Hotel Lisboa.

  Simon's legs were almost severed in the attack which an anti-triad detective said was ''meant to be a warning''.

  One Hongkong detective said the latest attacks could cause repercussions in Britain where the Shui Fong and Wo Shing Wo have been fighting for control of extortion and gambling rackets.

  The gangs are active in Hongkong and Macau, and in Chinese communities throughout Britain, and have been at odds for more than 10 years.

  The feud came to a head in July 1985 when Shui Fong leader Phillip Wong was hacked to death in Scotland by suspected Wo Shing Wo triads.

  There is also understood to have been a power struggle within the Wo Shing Wo recently, following the death last year of Chiu Chui-yee, who was set to become the leader.

  Chiu, a senior office bearer, died of cancer after being arrested by Organised Crime and Triad Bureau detectives in a raid on a mass gathering of Wo Shing Wo members at a restaurant in Tsuen Wan.

  Another senior office bearer arrested in the same raid was jailed earlier this year for triad offences.

  The Wo Shing Wo is said to have held a meeting in Macau to decide on a new leader.



Macau braces for triad war