Triad rivalry over floating casinos prompts police crackdown

Hong Kong police have launched a crackdown on two triad gangs battling over their efforts to solicit mainland customers to patronise casino ships.

Factions of the Wo Shing Wo and Sun Yee On triad societies are at odds over their efforts to attract passengers arriving at the Hung Hom railway station, detectives say.

The dispute began when the Wo Shing Wo tried to muscle in on their rivals' pitch on Cheong Wan Road outside the station - one of several locations where gangsters offer free overnight voyages to customers who buy discounted gambling chips.

"Those who buy more than HK$50,000 in chips from mud-chip agents will be offered a free ticket and room for the overnight cruise," a police source said.

"Mud chips" is the underworld term for discounted chips.

The source said gang members earned commissions based on the number of clients and the amount the clients gambled.

The Wo Shing Wo faction leader, known as Fei Sing, sent female agents to solicit in Cheong Wan Road last month, a police source said.