NCJ Number
129919
Journal
U.S. News and World Report Dated: (January 18, 1988) Pages: 29-31
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Recent experiences of law enforcement agencies reveal the involvement of ethnic gangs from recent immigrant groups in a variety of types of organized crime including drug trafficking, extortion, gambling, and prostitution.
Abstract
The criminal element represents only a tiny percentage of recent immigrants, but their crime patterns are similar to those of previous immigrant groups. Thus, criminal gangs from Central America, Asia, and the Caribbean initially prey on their own communities and receive little attention from law enforcement. When they begin to affect the larger community, law enforcement begins to focus attention on them. These groups are both less structured and more difficult to combat than were previous groups. Asian gangs are probably the most active and influential of the newer groups, and evidence exists of close working relationships between Hong Kong's criminal societies of 300 years and several important business associations (tongs) in the United States. Jamaican gangs are noted for their violence. Photographs