The 14K is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally, founded in 1945 by Kuomintang Lieutenant-General Kot Siu-wong in Guangzhou, China. It is the second largest triad in the world with around 20,000 members, primarily involved in drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other criminal activities. The group relocated to Hong Kong in 1949 and remains active, with a loose structure and factional violence.
CRIMENET has extracted 49 linkages for this organization, including 21 cooperative ties across 12 organizations, 19 conflicts across 8 organizations, 9 other connections and footprints in 17 countries.
strong bases in Brussels and Antwerp
The 14K became the main distributors of the opium grown by their allies in Burma
Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto in Canada
The 14K is among the leading triads in France
The 14K and other triads gained a firm foothold in Ireland in the 1980s
the 14K had been expanding its operations in Japan since the 1980s and had branches in Fukuoka, Osaka, Sapporo and Tokyo
a gunman believed to be connected to the local 14K killed a Portuguese national and wounded another at a pavement café in Macau
the 14K triad is among the suppliers of raw materials used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine to the Sinaloa Cartel
The 14K triad has been active in the Netherlands since as early as the 1970s
New Zealand police have stated that the 14K is the most powerful Asian crime syndicate operating in the country
The 14K triad has been involved in smuggling arms to Abu Sayyaf and has reportedly cooperated with the Islamic group in laundering and transmitting ransom money
Two 14K groups, 14K-Hau and 14K-Ngai, are among seven Chinese criminal organizations operating in South Africa, represented in both Cape Town and Johannesburg
The 14K has a branch in Spain, operating from Madrid
The 14K is the largest Chinese crime syndicate operating in Thailand
the 14K triad resurfaced in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago in the United States