'If a rooster is dead, another one will arise and crow,' they like to say in triad circles - and especially so since the brazen murder two years ago of gang leader Lee Tai-lung.
The so-called Baron of Tsim Sha Tsui and a leader of the powerful Sun Yee On triad, Lee was hacked to death on the forecourt of the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel by members of the rival Wo Shing Wo gang. After Lee's death, three of his former henchmen, known as Kai Fai, Man Ying and Ah Gwei, took control of his lucrative entertainment businesses to stop rivals moving into Lee's territory - in particular, the leader of another faction in the Sun Yee On known as Tai Hau, who is active in Tuen Mun.
Tai Hau tried to take advantage of Lee's death by extending his crew's influence in West Kowloon, including Tsim Sha Tsui, with the help of other triad leaders. His attempts were thwarted by an undercover police operation, as a result of which 222 people were arrested three weeks ago.
He wasn't the only interloper. A year ago, Lee's three henchmen were tracked by 'Ko Tat', who like Lee was a 'red pole fighter' or senior foot soldier, for the Sun Yee On crew in Wan Chai. However, he failed to win support across the harbour.
A police officer said Ko Tat's setback in Tsim Sha Tsui paved the way for another red pole fighter, 'Ko Chun', to take over Lee's businesses. Ko Chun was already active in Hart Avenue, a bar district in Tsim Sha Tsui. But the strength of Ko Chun's grip on these operations is not yet known, says an officer with the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau.
'It is too early to say whether he will succeed,' the officer said. Colleagues in the bureau's intelligence unit were 'watching Ko Chun's every move'.
