SCOTLAND'S biggest city is recruiting Cantonese-speaking former Hong Kong police officers to counter its growing triad-related crime problem.
The Chinese population in Glasgow, currently 20,000, is expected to double before 1997, and Strathclyde police are preparing for an anticipated rise in already flourishing triad-related crime.
Scottish police also fear the triads are forging tacit links with Glasgow's notorious underworld hardmen. Detectives say they expect rival gangs to try to carve a share of Glasgow's potentially lucrative extortion and illegal gambling rackets.
But Glasgow police, who have a no-nonsense reputation for cracking down hard on gang activity, say they are ready for anything, thanks to decades of experience in stamping out the city's own brutal razor gangs.
The former Hong Kong police officers are crucial to the anti-triad operation. Two, both Scots, have already joined, and several more are expected to sign up in the coming months.
One said: ''We worked in Hong Kong, and speak Cantonese fluently. That means we know how the triads operate, and what sort of businesses they go after.
''The triads see Glasgow as a prime location, because it can accommodate a large Chinese community - we estimate it will double in the next few years.'' Glasgow's 20,000 Hong Kong Chinese go largely unnoticed among the 700,000 who live in the area.