Ah Kong - The Rise of Ah Kong - Organization

Organization

Ah Kong thrived and grew until early 1978. When the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore learned about the gang activities in 1977, undercover agents were immediately sent to Amsterdam and other European cities to probe the activities of Ah Kong. After months of investigations, they managed to compile a list of gang suspects and how they worked. Ah Kong members who returned to Singapore on holiday were detained and interrogated. The information gathered was shared with other drug enforcement agencies in South-east Asia, Europe and the United States.

The Singapore authorities found that the make-up of Ah Kong consist of Singapore gangsters, seamen and fugitives, and there were four key leaders. They were a highly dangerous group of men who had no compunctions about killing to protect The Company's interests. Within itself, the Ah Kong functioned like a close-knit family, demanding uncompromising loyalty from all members. However, Ah Kong was never run along secret societies or triads lines at all. It was well-organized and run efficiently as a business entity with a distinct hierarchy.

Ah Kong had also diversified its business into restaurants, the diamond trade, travel agencies, nightclubs, gambling and buying Kung Fu films cheaply in Hong Kong and making a lot of money screening them in Europe, which also acted as fronts for their illegal business.

Ah Kong members were all well-off from the profits of the drug transactions and spent freely on women, travel, expensive clothes and drinks. As a rule, Ah Kong left its members to their own indulgences. But ironically enough, the only thing it would not tolerate was drug consumption by members.

The Ah Kong members were paid a basic monthly salary starting from 2000 guilders, and had their lodging and food taken care of. All the men, even the lowest ranking, were paid a yearly bonus from a “profit-sharing scheme” with the money from drug deals. Members were also given cars and a petrol allowance for which they had to produce receipts. There was a petty cash system where members could take money out to entertain their friends from Singapore. Each year, the members received about 20000 guilders as “clothing allowance” and Italian designer suits were highly recommended.

Singaporean and Malaysian seamen who worked as couriers in European cities were paid at least $2000 Singapore dollars a month with an additional $1000 Singapore dollars given to sent home to their families. Ah Kong members usually accompanied the couriers without them knowing it, to ensure that the heroin reached its destination without any problem. Drug couriers from Thailand and Malaysia were paid $15000 Singapore dollars per trip and given an all-expenses paid holidays in Europe. This sum, which could buy a house in Singapore in the 1970s, was not easy to resist. With the millions of dollars Ah Kong made, they were able to grow their business very fast. In one operation, they used 70 couriers on a single flight to Amsterdam.

One of the reasons for Ah Kong's success was that they were always one step ahead of the law. When Amsterdam customs officers started checking on all Asian passengers thoroughly, Ah Kong flew its couriers to 'safer' airports in London, Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris and Rome. From these airports, the couriers travelled to Amsterdam or Frankfurt by train or taxi. They avoided airports in Germany and Denmark because these countries used narcotics detector dogs.

In late August, 1978, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore spearheaded an international operation that resulted in the seizure of about $10 million Singapore dollars worth of heroin and the arrest of more than 50 members of Ah Kong in Singapore, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Among those detained were three of its four key leaders, which the authorities named Golden K, Ah Wee and Ah Li but the fourth, Ah Meng (Roland), escaped. The crackdown dealt a decisive blow to Ah Kong.

One of the Ah Kong members who was arrested cooperated with the authorities and provided information of the gang members' whereabouts was gunned down in Thailand after his release.