All language subtitles for Lords.of.the.Mafia.with.Robert.Stack.S01E11.Vietnamese.Crime.Gangs.The.New.Threat.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Descended from
centuries-old bandit gangs,

and spawned by the Vietnam War,

this new breed of criminal is
young, tough, and fearless,

dispassionately dealing
violence to their own people.

With extreme prejudice.

They're into drugs, forgery

and extorting
computer technology.

The creeping new force

vying for world organized
crime domination,

the Vietnamese Crime Gangs.

For much of the 20th century,

the American mafia proved to be

one of the most successful
and profitable models

for large scale organized crime.

But times have changed

and the fortunes of
the mob have waned,

leaving a power vacuum that
has been filled by new players.

This new breed is
perhaps best exemplified

by Vietnamese crime gangs,

which had their
genesis in the turmoil

of war-torn Southeast Asia.

These indelible images
of the fall of Saigon,

marked the end of one calamity
and the beginning of another.

The mass outpouring of
people from a war-ravaged

and war-weary Vietnam.

More than 160,000 Vietnamese,

many of them orphaned
or abandoned children,

resettled in America.

Tens of thousands
more fled Vietnam

trying to find refuge
in other parts of Asia

and even Australia,

Along with the desperate
and a displaced,

but the seed that eventually
spawned to crime gangs

now evident in major
American cities

and in other parts of the world.

It should have
come as no surprise

that the street urchins
and orphans of Saigon

so readily turned to a life of
crime in their new homeland.

A concept of organized crime

was not new to their
native culture.

Stretching back more
than a thousand years

was a history of banditry
along the length and breadth

of the Mekong Delta.

Historians say
Vietnamese bandit gangs,

some of them descendants
of Indonesian pirates,

as far back as 750 A.D., were
looting on the high seas.

Extorting protection
money from river traders,

terrorizing local villages,

preying on wealthy
Chinese merchants.

By the time the French colonized
Indochina in the 1860s,

organized crime had
become an entrenched part

of Vietnamese society.

In July, 1941, Japan moved
50,000 troops into Indochina,

virtually neutralizing
French rule.

In a quite extraordinary
piece of maneuvering,

a onetime street
hoodlum named Bay Vyen

managed to convince
Japanese authorities

to appoint him chief
of police in Saigon.

Bay Vyen and his criminal
cohorts controlled drug running,

gambling rackets,
and prostitution for
more than a decade.

Indeed the bears had been
put in charge of the honey.

But there was nothing
sweet about life

for the human tidal
wave of Vietnamese

forced to flee their homeland

at the end of the Vietnam War.

Tens of thousands of refugees

were crammed into overcrowded
camps in Southeast Asia.

The lucky ones were resettled
in far away America, Canada,

France, and Australia.

But even in America,
hopes of a good life

for many Indochinese immigrants

were dashed on the rocks
of economic recession,

which had gripped
the United States.

Desperate and disaffected,
they turned to crime.

It wasn't long before
individuals banded together

and devised new schemes.

Like other ethnic
gangs before them,

the Vietnamese turned
first on their own people,

using terror tactics to
force victims into submission

and ensure they didn't
go to the authorities.

The concept of the
home invasion robbery

was actually a concept
that was developed

by Vietnamese immigrant
kids in Southern California

that were led by some
very sophisticated
young gang members.

And they developed
it, they refined it,

and then it was eventually
taught to other kids

coming into the
Southern California area

from across the nation.

And subsequently, my
understanding now is

that it continued to
spread outside the borders

of the United States,

where the home invasion
robbery is now occurring

in places like
Asia, Canada, and,

and regions of the
world like that.

The first thing they do
when they burst into a home,

if the head of the family,
the male person is present,

they shoot that
person in the leg.

Oh, don't hurt him!

We know you've got the money.

Give me the money now!

Where's the money?

Gun, shut up.

Give me the money!

I want the money now!

We know it is,
you go and get it!

You want another one, huh?

Shut up!

Rape
has also been used

to intimidate families into
handing over cash and jewels,

or paying up on
extortion demands.

Sometimes the victims of
these vicious sexual attacks

are just 10 years old.

Another technique they use
if a, if a very small child,

preferably a baby's
present, they take the baby,

- Give me the baby.
- No, no, no,

No!

Let go of me!

Get off me.

And they tape it to the wall

using the electrical duct tape,

they then take their weapon

and they fire shots
around the wall.

Bit like a bugs money cartoon,

but a little bit more dangerous.

This
propensity for violence

and an apparent willingness

to use it on their
own ethnic community

is what sets Vietnamese
apart from other crime games.

Well, the home invasion
robbery, of course,

tended always to be a very
vicious and violent crime.

We've had some horrific
acts of torture

that have occurred
upon family members

in which the victims
have not been forthcoming

more with valuables or are
being hidden in the house

and things of that nature.

Not specific to Westminster,
but over time I've,

I've assisted with a
lot of other agencies

in the investigation
of some of their

Vietnamese gang crimes.

We've had home
invasion robberies

where the baby was
picked up by the ankle

and its head was repeatedly
dunked in the toilet

because the mother was
not telling the suspects

where the jewelry in the
house was being hidden.

We've had water that
was cooked on the stove

and poured over the
79-year-old grandmother

because the father was not
telling the gang members

quickly enough where
the money in the house

was being hidden.

Asian crime gang
experts have learned

that the gangs function
with a complexity

that is not immediately obvious.

Most of the Vietnamese
street gangs today

are fully capable of working

on two separate distinct levels.

The first is in crimes
for economic gain.

In crimes where, where the
ultimate goal is money.

You will find that all wars
will be put to one side

and all alliances will
be put to one side.

And in an effort to do
a particularly big crime

where there's a lot
of money involved,

it is not at all
uncommon to find members

of rival gangs joining
together to commit this crime,

splitting the money,

and then going back to the
respective street gang.

The second level that the
Vietnamese gangs operate on

is for the benefit of the gangs,

reputation of the gangs face.

Everything you do is done

with an eye towards enhancing
the reputation, the power,

the character, the
strength of the gang.

You know its reputation
for violence,

its reputation for
sophistication,

all of those things are
done with a view towards

the more face your gang
has in the gang subculture,

the more face you will have
because you belong to them.

Vietnamese

or Viet Ching gangs, as
they call themselves,

now exist in most reasonable
sized American cities.

17, Foxtrot

17, Foxtrot.

10 eight. from 9200 Bolsa
en route to 9191 Bolsa.

Good copy.

Law enforcement
agencies agree that

Viet Ching gangs are already
a significant problem

in 16 states.

One of the highest
profile Vietnamese gangs

on America's west coast
and the Natoma Boyz,

who came to public prominence
in the very early 1990s.

In a four month period,

the gang netted more than $1
million in stolen property,

car break-ins, robberies,
and auto thefts

throughout Southern California.

The gang had more than 150
members operating in Orange,

Los Angeles, Riverside, and
San Bernardino counties.

The Natoma Boyz were the
first Vietnamese gang

to pattern themselves
on occidental gangs,

adopting gang colors, gang
signs, and gang monikers.

In the mid 1990s,

a gang came under
concentrated attention

from law enforcement agencies.

Many of the gang members
ended up in jail.

Today there's
increasing evidence

that some of the larger gangs

have become more sophisticated.

They have evolved hierarchy
structures like those

the mafia developed as it gained
a real foothold in America.

California's Justice
Department estimates

that that state alone now
has at least 15,000 members

in Asian street gangs.

The city of Westminster
in Orange County,

Southern California,

has as one of the largest
concentrations in America

of ethnic Vietnamese,
Laotians and Cambodians.

The influence of Vietnamese
culture in the city is such

that it is often
called little Saigon.

Feuds between gang
wars are nothing new.

With Asian gangs, though
there's often another dimension

beyond the traditional turf.

It's a complex question of face

or more to the
point loss of face.

This loss of face,

rather than a dispute
over territory

is often the cause of big
trouble in Little Saigon,

Prior to Tet, which is our
Vietnamese New Year's Festival,

we had a shooting in a cafe

in which one of our knit Nip
Family street gang members

was killed by a rival
gang because of some looks

that were exchanged
while the members

were at the festival next door.

And because of this dirty
look, they felt they lost face

and they went in to try and
take care of the problem.

Sometimes a violence
spills onto the streets

providing a stark reminder
that organized crime,

although often unseen,
does still exist.

There appears

that we've got a large
Asian gang war in progress.

This young
man was attacked

with machetes and swords

after an argument with a carload
of other Vietnamese youths

in a quiet suburban
street in Australia.

Eyewitnesses watch
an utter disbelief

as the victim was
hacked about the head,

the arms, the back,
and the abdomen.

Yeah, mate, about five of
them jumped out of this car

and hacking into
this poor bloke.

And they had these big knives
and choppers and swords.

Oh, they had everything

Although
badly injured,

fortunately for this young man,

he did recover after
extensive surgery.

But he'll carry the scars
for the rest of his life.

Not everyone who crosses swords
with a Vietnamese crime gang

however, gets off so lightly.

A crusading politician
named John Newman

from Sydney, Australia

decided to confront local
crime gangs head on.

He publicly railed
against them on television

and at local meetings in the
Vietnamese enclave, Cabramatta.

He demanded the gangs and
those bankrolling them,

quit pushing heroin
in his neighborhood.

There a
deal going down the ramp,

the downward ramp on
the eastern side now.

He just handed him the money.

Yes, we
need to stay with Theresa.

Yeah mate, he's
heading, heading south.

Repeat heading south.

All right, just send him back.

You two stay in the field.

Do you copy?
- And copy.

I'll keep the gear with me then.

John Newman
wanted the epidemic

that had become all too
obvious on the streets

brought under control.

How much?

- 40.
- 40?

How much?

- 45.
- 45, yeah.

Can you get me more?

On this occasion,

two dealers fought
over the sale.

- You got money here?
- Yeah.

- How much you need?
- Yeah, well, I don't know,

how much can you do me for 10?

130, 270.

- 270.
- Yeah.

Four, 240.

So open
was a trade in heroin

that a local television
station captured

this remarkable image of a
couple who had overdosed.

Just
relax, just relax.

Just open your eyes
for me darlin'.

Open your eyes.

You know what happened?

You know what happened?
- No.

You
overdosed on heroin, OK.

- Did I?
- Yeah.

- Am I gonna be OK?
- You weren't breathing okay.

You weren't breathing.

Your mate's still not breathing.

I got to help him, all right.

Do me a favor.

Do me a favor and just
sit there and relax, OK?

Just sit there and relax.
- Am I gonna be OK?

Yeah,
you're gonna be fine.

We stop treating you, you go.

All right.

You're gonna
go under heroin again, OK?

Yeah, okay.

Newman's
one man campaign

brought little reaction
from the authorities,

but it struck a raw nerve
with the drug dealers.

And it wasn't long before
the death threats began.

You're dead, Newman.

I tell you, you're dead, Newman.

Matters got worse.

Newman's office was shot
up and his car fired upon

and something of
an understatement.

Newman put his
situation this way.

I've attracted the
wrath of this, this game.

Indeed, he had.

Within two weeks,
John Newman was dead,

gunned down outside his home

after he spoke at a public
meeting on drug crime.

He was shot at close range

before the eyes of
his fiance, Lucy Wang.

Months later, two ethnic
Vietnamese were arrested

and charged with
Newman's murder.

His untimely death
prompted public outrage

and finally action from
law enforcement agencies

who set up a special task force.

It also prompted a very
public display of support

for John Newman and his
fight against organized crime

from the local
Vietnamese community.

In the United States,

importation and
distribution of heroin

has long been a jealousy
protected preserve

of Chinese crime
gangs called triads.

Despite many common
links between the triads

and the Viet Ching gangs,
the Chinese have no intention

of letting anyone else
control the heroin trade.

The Vietnamese
have us been forced

to find some other niche
in the drug market.

Heroin trafficking in the
Western half the United States

has traditionally
always been controlled

by Chinese organized
crime syndicates.

Again, the Chinese
were established here

far earlier than the
Vietnamese refugee influx.

I mean from when the railroads
were built in the late 1800s

initially in San Francisco, and
then subsequent Los Angeles.

And you're talking
about a significant

Chinese organized
crime influence

that existed in the Los Angeles
area in the 1960s already.

And so they immediately sewed
up the heroin trafficking

operations and as a result,

the Vietnamese kids getting
into organized crime

and getting in the street
gangs lacked a source,

lacked a source of
supply for the heroin

'cause it was controlled
by the Chinese syndicates.

Now, the Chinese syndicates
would subcontract out

with the Vietnamese level gangs

to distribute the
product on the street,

but they didn't feel
comfortable with that.

There's, there's a lot
of traditional animosity

between the two cultures
and the two populations.

They didn't really
feel they trust 'em.

We in fact have now
a far greater problem

that is in the distribution
of methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine, which
has taken off tremendously

here in California is
relatively easy to make.

You can make it at home
using certain chemicals.

It is not something that
needs to be imported

from outside the country.

And the Vietnamese kids have
picked up on that very quickly.

And we now have fairly extensive
methamphetamine trafficking

organizations
involving Vietnamese.

But across the
Pacific in Australia

where there are also
Vietnamese gangs,

heroin trafficking has
become their stock and trade.

And they work hand in
hand with Chinese gangs.

Operations Head of Australia's
National Crime Authority,

Peter Lamb, however,

sees street gangs
expanding their power.

They've always been at
the bottom end of the chain,

but they're, they are
now starting to appear

as multi kilo distributors,

which is one of two levels
up from from the street.

And there is some
evidence also to indicate

that they are becoming involved
in importations themselves,

arranging the importation,
facilitating it,

and then being the
recipient of the product.

Yes, there is evidence of,
of a, of that occurring.

They are starting to play
a more prominent role

in narcotics distribution.

And from time to
time we do see them

involved in importations.

But they have individuals,
civic individuals have,

I suppose, graduated out of that

street crime type
activity into a more

organized environment

and become entrepreneurs
in their own right.

Little
wonder there is a nexus

between Vietnamese gangs and
the lucrative drug market.

The young bandit gangs
of Indochinese refugees

who came to America in other
parts of the west in 1980s

were driven by one thing,
one thing only, money.

Most saw a direct link between
amassing personal wealth

and the acceptable
in western society.

And for them, crime seemed
the quickest route to riches.

These kids figured
out very, very quickly,

it is more efficient
to do crime in a group

than it is to do
crime individually.

You make much more money

getting four or five
friends together

and doing a, let's say,
a home invasion robbery

than you do shoplifting at
the local department store

by yourself.

The monetary take on
an organized operation

like a home invasion

in which you bring in four
or five other individuals

is much greater than, than
trying to operate by yourself

out there in a criminal element.

And so what these kids
initially ended up doing is

they would approach friends
they had in the refugee camps

or friends they were
going to school with

and would get them to cooperate

with them in committing
the criminal activity.

It was these kind of
individual groups of kids

that really were
not yet organized

or structured in any
type or or manner

that we gave the name
bandit groups to.

Because they literally
operated as almost gypsy bands.

They, they went out,
they would get together

to commit criminal
activity for economic gain

and then would go back
to the respective homes

or their schools or whatever

and hang out until it came
time to commit another crime

for economic gain.

While profit almost
certainly was a driving force

for the gangs of
Vietnamese refuges.

It may not be the
full explanation.

The attraction of gangs
for many kids, for fact,

for most kids, has to do with
their own needs, for identity,

for status, for prestige,
for something to belong to.

They don't join by and
large in order to do crime.

Crime comes along with it

and is exaggerated
by gang membership.

So for the most
part, kids join gangs

to get these other
needs fulfilled.

Sometimes they join them
for a sense of protection.

They think that they will be
protected against other groups,

rival groups if
they join gang X.

What they don't
recognize, of course,

is that that makes
them more vulnerable

to attack by gang X.

Whatever the
original sociological reasons

for the formation
of Vietnamese gangs,

today the lure of big money
from sophisticated crime

is what drives a
better organized gang.

In 1997, working
in conjunction

with the Denver Police
Department in the
state of Colorado,

we received information
on a large-scale

check counterfeiting operation

that existed in
the United States.

There was, there was
several individuals

that were arrested in Denver

who subsequently
said that the brains,

that the leaders of
the organization were,

in fact all, all
Orange Boy members

who were established
in California.

In doing a series of operations,

we eventually were
able to take down

a counterfeiting factory here
in the Orange County area,

in which an individual who
was an Orange Boy gang member,

using a computer was producing
counterfeit payroll checks.

These counterfeit payroll
checks were for banks

that were not in the
state of California,

and he would produce them in
batches of 50 to a hundred.

These checks were then
sent out of state,

along with an Orange Boy member.

They would go to the
state where the checks,

where the banks existed

that the checks were
counterfeited from.

And this orange boy
member would then recruit

from the local Asian communities

people who would pass
these checks to the banks.

The Orange Boys pulled the
counterfeit check swindle

in 16 states across America.

40% of the take went
directly back to them.

The rest were spit up
among teams of Vietnamese

hired to pass the checks

and the cost to the banks,
millions of dollars.

The story of the Orange
Boys counterfeit racket

has a footnote that is
almost as remarkable

as a story itself.

Sergeant Marcus Frank tells
us about Phong Vu Nguyen,

a drug addict who took over
control of the Orange Boys gang.

The leadership of the gang
changed after the initial,

after the original leader
was killed during a pursuit

by police while
driving a stolen car.

And his brother took over
leadership with the gang.

His brother at the time was
a hardcore heroin addict.

He was doing approximately
two to $300 worth

of heroin a day, but a very
intelligent individual,

and at the time, he
took over the gang,

took himself off heroin himself,
cold turkey, so to speak,

and immediately sat down

and instructed his gang members

that they needed to present a
lower profile to the police.

That he did not want them out
there on the street committing

street gang activities.

He didn't want them being
contacted by the police.

He didn't want them admitting
their gang affiliation.

And what he was able
to do was he was able

to decrease the activity of
Orange Boys to the point where

for three years there
was no police record

of any Orange Boy
activity occurring.

About the same time
that this happened,

we had a homicide of a
California State Police officer

who was killed on a traffic
stop by a Vietnamese individual

by the name of Hung Mai.

Hong Mai was part of the
Orange Boy organization.

As a matter of fact, he reported

to the leader of
the Orange Boys.

And the reason that
police officer was killed

was because Hung Mai had
counterfeiting equipment

for checks in the
trunk of his car.

The car was going
to be towed away.

And this, this
individual felt that

because it was his third strike,
he was going to go to jail

for a or prison a long time.

And he ended up basically
executing the officer.

The officer didn't
have much of a chance.

Phong Vu Nguyen
who ran the old Orange Boys,

is now serving eight
years behind bars

for the counterfeit
checks racket.

He is something of a rarity
among Vietnamese gangs.

Many other

organized crime gangs
depend upon structure.

There's a centuries old customs
that form the Chinese Triad.

Japanese Yakuza a
classic power structure

of the traditional mafia.

But the Vietnamese use a system

where leaders are
appointed temporarily,

depending on their suitability
for the task at hand,

Six, oh, okay, you,
you're gonna take the night.

I know where there's
six, maybe seven.

It is a structure
that makes it more difficult

for law enforcement agencies
to pinpoint who is in a gang.

And it means a gang will survive

even if the head of one
crime enterprise is cut off.

Most of the
Vietnamese street gangs

do not have a
hierarchical structure,

although they may have a
dominant personality figure

that for the most part runs
the gang or advises the gang.

Oftentimes leadership
of the gang

may devolve upon the person

who has the most experience
committing that type of crime.

So for example, a Vietnamese
gang that is planning

to do a residential
home invasion robbery,

they may have a
14-year-old member

that's done six
of these already.

And for that night, the
leadership of that gang

will devolve upon
this 14-year-old

for the purpose of
that home invasion.

Two nights later,
perhaps the gang decides

they're going to steal a car.

And now that leadership
of the gang may go over

to the 16-year-old
member of the gang

that has the most
experience in stealing cars.

So experience plays a
very great role in terms

of determining who leads the
gang for a particular effort.

If understanding
the power structures

of the Vietnamese
gangs is puzzling

and accurately defining
where on the ladder

of organized crime these gangs
stand is equally difficult.

The experts all have
differing opinions,

even among law
enforcement officers

views can be poles apart.

Operations head of the
National Crime Authority

in Australia, Peter Lamb.

If you'd have asked
me that question

probably three or
four years ago,

I, I would have answered
by saying they don't,

whilst they're been
largely involved

in street crime type activity

up until maybe three
or four years ago,

they are starting to play
a more prominent role

in narcotics distribution.

And from time to
time we do see them

involved in importations,

but they have individuals,
specific individuals have,

I suppose, graduated out of that

street crime type
activity into a more

organized environment

and become entrepreneurs
in their own right.

Chief of police
for Westminster City

in California, James Cook.

In my 37 years of experience,

they transitioned
faster from street gangs

to organize criminal activity.

There's an FBI definition that
we tend to use also of ACEs.

Asian Criminal Enterprises

and the Vietnamese are extremely
good at organizing ACEs.

These are ad hoc groups that
come together to work on,

on one or two for-profit
crime ventures

and then they may
disband and go on

and do something else.

And street gangs feed into these
Asian Criminal Enterprises.

But by the same token,

people that run these
Asian Criminal Enterprises

are like business managers
in the corporate world.

And they put together the
enterprise and go ahead and,

and do it that way.

I think if you look
at the news reports,

they always overemphasize
the level of organization

in street gangs

so that if you see
a pattern of crime,

whether it's Vietnamese
home invasions or,

or Chinese extortions
or what have you,

you get the feeling that that's

what those gangs are all about.

That's a, that's a
distortion of reality.

That's a piece of
what they're doing.

And that piece may require
some level of organization

by some members of the gang,

but there are many other
members of the gang

that are not doing
that, that are doing

various other kinds of things
as any other gang will.

And so if you get a
whole picture of what
that gang is up to

you don't get a very good
picture of true organization.

These, these kids are not
mafia, they're not Cosa Nostra.

And it's foolish to apply to
them the kinds of techniques

that we would apply to
adult criminal gangs.

Overall, the Vietnamese
street gangs prefer the firearm.

It is the one weapon

that makes them
equal on the street

with any other gang
that they may encounter,

that makes them in
their eyes all-powerful.

Many of these kids
realized early on

that they were for the most
part of smaller stature

than your typical Occidental
Street gang member

or your typical
occidental victim.

They're smaller in size
and oftentimes in weight.

So the one factor that equals,

that equals everything
up is the firearm.

For the most part, they
prefer the semi-automatic

or the fully automatic handgun.

It's easily concealable
and it's also preferred

because of the manner in which
they shoot their weapons.

Very few of these gang
members take a sight picture

over gun sites.

Instead, they, they do what
we call spray and prey.

They crank out as many
rounds from the weapon

in a short amount
of time as possible

with the intention that their
target goes down in that,

that field of fire.

A number of years ago,
we had several instances

where individuals
went into a restaurant

with an automatic
weapon and opened fire.

And the, the casualty count
was two dead and eight wounded,

or one dead and 13 wounded

and investigating
that particular crime,

it turned out there
was only one individual

in that whole restaurant that
the gangs were targeting.

Everyone else was simply
hit in this field of fire

that was put down
by the gang members

when they went into the
front door of the restaurant.

Initially law
enforcement tackled gang crime

on a local basis, but instead
of crime gangs diminishing

the opposite happened.

Law enforcement had
to devise new ways

to deal with a new
type of criminal.

So what this really does
is to confront this enclave

which would require a huge
police department police.

We now have brought in resources

of different levels
of government

and specifically aim them

at the Vietnamese
organized crime problem.

And, and we are able to respond
with lightning like ability.

And we move through
an antiquated criminal
justice system

in a matter of moments.

Because when Sergeant
Frank calls up there

and he talks to the, to
the United States Attorney

who's handling the latest
money laundering case,

they're very familiar with that.

We've already by, by a whole
series of relationships,

established a team and
they operate as a team.

It's the way the Japanese built
cars to make them go better.

It's the way we put
people on the moon.

A team works on a problem.

In this case the Asian Organized
Crime Team, we call it SIU,

Special Investigation Unit,
are set and ready to go.

They have access to
county prosecutors,

they have access to
federal prosecutors,

they have access to
county resources.

We have access to federal
government resources

and we have our local resources.

That multi-jurisdictional team

enables us then to keep
abreast of what's going on now.

because I'll tell
you quite frankly

the Asian Organized Crime,
in the Vietnamese end of it,

is very innovative
and extremely violent.

What is happening
in police circles

is we are following the
patterns of globalization.

Crime is international, it's
it's mushrooming on the back

of globalized activities

in industry and
commerce and elsewhere.

And therefore the police
have to keep up with it.

And we have regular contacts
now almost daily in some cases

where we are constantly in touch

with our counterparts in other
countries, through Interpol,

through conferences, seminars,
and one-to-one meetings

and exchanges of staff

so that we can share experiences
not only here in Australia

but certainly in
from those countries

where most of the
immigrants have come from.

Now that is tremendously
important for us

because sharing of information,
the exchange of ideas

and the exchange of
people that can help us

analyze trends is
very important.

So it's something that
we'll continue doing.

Law enforcement
officers claim

that in using these new
integrated techniques

for fighting crime, they have
begun to make real progress.

But Malcolm Klein thinks a
sledgehammer is being used

to crack a peanut.

But there are justice agencies

that think in terms
of conspiracy.

I think in many ways they would
prefer to have street gangs.

And it doesn't matter whether
it's Vietnamese or Hispanic

or black, they would
prefer to have street gangs

take on a more
organized structure.

A because it makes it more of
a legitimate problem to fight

as law enforcement agencies.

And B, because we have
new or expanded techniques

for dealing with
organized crimes

that don't work very well with
disorganized youth groups,

street groups, we have
conspiracy statutes

and special sentencing stripe
structures and guidelines.

RICO statutes that were
about developed originally

for the drug trade that can
be applied to criminal groups.

In fact, here in California,

they finally got around to
defining what a street gang is.

And in order to do that, they,

the very first sentence
in the definition is

a criminal street gang is

so as soon as they
put crime in there,

then they justified
a series of responses

that might not be possible

without that kind of thinking.

There is often a fine line

between a crime being a
disorganized, spontaneous attack

by a street gang is
something more sinister,

A deliberately planned attack

that is a part of
organized crime.

If you are the victim,

the question is academic,

as this Korean tourist couple

discovered in the back
streets of Sydney.

A security camera
captured their assailants

who were determined
to take every cent

the hapless couple had.

The woman initially
refused to give up her bag

with some heavy
handed treatment,

soon changed her mind.

For daring to resist,

she was handed a second beating.

And oddly, the
victims began to bow

in a display of respect
for their attackers.

Even after the police arrived,

the couple refused
to press charges.

They actually asked the police
to let the assailant go.

As you have just seen, organized
crime has made a return

to the streets after
decades behind closed doors.

So what's next?

As organized crime
leaders of yesteryear

are being replaced by
brash young opportunists

like the Vietnamese
and other gangs.

Some of our experts look ahead.

I'm fully convinced that
the Vietnamese street gangs,

along with a lot of the
other Asian Street Gangs

as they move into
organized crime,

are going to far
surpass any type

of organized crime syndicates

we've ever seen in this country.

The sophistication
level is simply too high

that they've already
demonstrated at
a very early age.

And, and everything they do
contributes to their training,

contributes to their knowledge,

contributes to their education.

And these kids learn every
single thing they do,

every crime they commit,

every gang activity
they get involved in,

they use as a basis of
further educating themselves

on how to do things better.

And we've seen that happen
time and time again.

Because it is an
evolutionary process,

remember the Chinese
and the Japanese

had to start somewhere as well.

Where I place the
Vietnamese today

is probably where the Chinese,

the raw Chinese immigrants
were say 30 years ago,

who started off at the very
basic level of street extortion.

Not unlike the mafia in the
United States, for example,

in the forties.

I think, you know,

if you're talking about the
history and the future of gangs

we're in for a
long term problem.

I started doing my
research back in the 1960s

and the gang number of gang
cities in this country has grown

from around 50 at that point

to this three or 4,000 estimate.

We're reaching an
asymptote, we're reaching a,

a leveling off point because
there aren't all that many

of the cities and towns left,

which have the
capacity to form gangs.

On the other hand, there aren't
a heck of a lot of cities

that are expand cities.

There's once, once
the phenomenon starts

and gets established, it
tends to perpetuate itself.

And the way we respond to it
tends to perpetuate it as well.

So I think we've, we've seen
the worst of the increase,

but I don't think we've
seen much good news

about a decrease
in gang problems.

Those who study crime

have been given a
rare glimpse into

the world of crime gangs.

When police detained
this young man

for questioning over a vicious
attack on a Vietnamese family

during a home invasion.

This is part of what he
told investigating officers.

We armed with weapons and that

and we just kick the door
in and just go in and do it.

If you have money, then you
can grab a hold of anything

as as easy as that.

With money, you can have
gun, you know, bullets.

Yeah, anything that you
want as long you have money.

As a teenagers who
got nowhere to go,

who left home and
don't go to school

and hang around the streets,

obviously they think
that to join the gang

as a group go together,

they got more
protection as a group.

What are
we seeing here?

Is it simply a
random criminal act

being committed by members
of a Vietnamese street gang

or is it a systematic process
being perpetrated by a gang,

which is itself part
of a bigger picture

we know as organized crime?

It is not a question
easily answered,

but it does need an answer

before society at large
can decide what to do.

I do believe
politicians should rethink

and take a second look
at at organized crime

in America today.

I would suggest
as a police chief

that may be a
presidential commission

on the status of
organized crime.

And look at the very
different parts of it

here in Westminster,

we're very much exposed
to Asian Organized Crime

but I think in the
upcoming 21st century

that the federal government
should host a series

of conferences and perhaps have
a special commission report

because organized
crime has changed.

From my understanding of this

and the briefings
that I've attended,

Italian organized crime is flat

and probably not increasing
as rapidly as Asian crime.

And so all of these things
should be considered.

And I think that the
Justice Department

should lead us on
a national strategy

so that all the local agencies,

the state agencies,

and the federal agencies
can get on the same page.

You know, if, if you're
going to look at gangs,

street gangs, which is
what I'm talking about,

you have to be
very careful not to

overstate the relationships
to other groups.

For example, they're nothing
like terrorist groups.

They are really nothing
like motorcycle gangs.

They are really nothing
like prison gangs

although there are connections
between some street gangs

and some prison gangs.

They are really not very much
like all of the youth groups

that you probably are a part of

and I was a part of that got
into trouble occasionally

when we were in
school in high school,

but we didn't commit ourselves

or orient ourselves to and
associate to criminal activity,

street gangs do.

That's why we get so concerned.

So if we're going to look
at and understand them,

we have to start
with several things.

One, they're by and large
adolescent or youth groups.

And that suggests, you know,

a number of things
about socialization,
job opportunities,

training opportunities for them.

Another is that group
process takes over.

Once kids join gangs,
they get enveloped in

all of this rhetoric of the
gang language and the gang talk

and the gang glory.

And the more we do to them
that emphasizes their gang,

as such, the more we create
more cohesiveness in the gang,

the more we create gang crime.

So what we want do, rather
than say with adult gangs

where we try and crack down
on them as much as possible,

put them away in prisons
is such a big problem.

With street gangs, that's
gonna be counterproductive,

because by and large,
they're gonna sit back

and put the clippings
in their pockets

and say, see man,
we're so tough.

They had to do this
and they had to do that

'cause there are lots
of examples of this,

and there are good data in some
of the American evaluations

that show that the more
we do to gangs, for gangs,

with gangs, the
stronger they become,

the more cohesive they become,

and the more difficult it is
to reduce that cohesiveness

and the crime that
results from that.

So from my point of view, one
has to be extremely strategic

and sensitive about
the nature of gangs

before trying to
intervene with them.

And unfortunately, we're not.

And the history of the
American interventions is

that we intervene on the
basis of our ideologies,

not on the basis of
what we understand

about the nature of those gangs.

Developing strategies

to prevent Vietnamese gangs

from becoming new lords
of organized crime

may take some time.

After all, the mafia
flourished, virtually untouched

for seven decades in America

before law enforces finally
began to win the battle.

One thing is very clear.

The law will have
to find innovative

and potent new ways to deal
with a new breed of criminal

because the old order

and the ways of
fighting it have passed

irrevocably into history.

I'm Robert Stack,
thanks for joining us.