Hong Kong protests hurting triads too

Hong Kong

AS thousands of pro-democracy protesters thronged Hong Kong's major retail and business districts, blocking roads and forcing shops to close, it wasn't just legal establishments feeling the pain.

Business for Hong Kong's gangsters fell "about 40 per cent" in the days after the occupation started on Sept 28, according to a man who gave his name only as Ah Lik and said he was a district head of the 14K, one of Hong Kong's three largest organised crime outfits, known as triads. He referred to the takings of various triad-related rackets across the city and declined to give further details.

The protests brought to light how far the triads will go to protect the underground economy they dominate in places such as Mongkok in Kowloon, a vice-prone area across the harbour from central Hong Kong that bustles with hawkers and food stalls. With student-led demonstrators occupying some of Mongkok's streets, disrupt…