Macau gets tough on triads with new gangster law

MACAU (Reuter) Portugueseruled Macau is pushing through a tough new law to
combat Chinese gangsters and crack down on a wave of violent crime,
assassinations and fire bombings that has rocked the tiny territory in recent
months.

The law, directed against criminal secret societies known as triads, passed
its first hurdle in the legislature Friday.

The 45article bill is modeled on Italy's antiMafia laws and proposes prison
terms of up 15 years for leaders of triad groups. Higher prison sentences
would be meted out on gang leaders for recruiting members under the age of
18.

The bill, which is likely to be passed before the assembly's summer recess in
August, also proposed an entry ban on convicted foreign triad members.

Triad groups are extensively organized in Hong Kong, Macau and southern China
and their tentacles stretch to Chinatowns in a number of Western countries.
Macau gangsters often escape into China after carrying out attacks.

They are linked to a wide range of activities ranging from drugs, smuggling
and prostitution to protection rackets preying upon Macau's casino business.

Gang warfare has been blamed for a recent wave of bombings, arson attacks and
driveby shootings in which 16 people have been killed so far this year.

Macau, under Portuguese rule for four and a half centuries, reverts to China
in 1999, two years after neighboring Hong Kong.