Wah Ching

Wah Ching (traditional Chinese: 華青; simplified Chinese: 华青; pinyin: Huá Qīng) is a Chinese American criminal organization and Blood-affiliated street gang also known as "Dub C" or "Insane Dragons" that was founded in San Francisco, California during the early 1960s. The Wah Ching has been involved in crimes including narcotic sales, racketeering and gambling.[1]

Wah Ching (華青),
Wah Ching Bloods
Founded1960s
Founding locationSan Francisco, California, United States
Years active1960s – present[1]
Territory(Head Quarters) San Francisco, California, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, California, Santa Ana, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, Reno, Nevada, United States, China, Hong Kong
EthnicityPredominantly Chinese American with a few Vietnamese American
Criminal activitiesmurder, arms trafficking, Drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, illegal gambling, loan sharking, fraud, counterfeit, software piracy
Allies14K Triad, Tiny Rascal Gang, Oriental Lazy Boyz, Asian Society, Hop Sing Boys, Bloods, Tokyo Boyz (Sub-Set), Sinaloa Cartel, Latin Kings, Hop Sing Tong, Bamboo Union, Flying Dragons, Menace of Destruction, Wo Hop To and other Wo family Triads
RivalsAryan Brotherhood, Asian Boyz, Crips (some sets), Vietnamese Boyz, Jackson Street Boys, Black Dragons (gang), Joe Boys, MS-13, Suey Sing Tong

History

Wah Ching is composed mainly of young men. Triad member clothing ranges from casual to business attire making it hard for officials to distinguish them from other citizens. The Wah Ching was founded mainly by immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong who were fleeing communist China. As a result, the Wah Ching was first founded as a political activist group that avidly opposed the communist regime in China. However, as time progressed, the Wah Ching quickly became a street gang through Tong affiliations but still kept their nationalist political views. Wah Ching first received widespread media attention because of the 1977 Golden Dragon Massacre (GDM) involving another Chinese gang, the Chung Ching Yee Joe Boys (JBS). The event took place at the Golden Dragon Restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. Five people were killed, and eleven others were injured. None of the victims were gang members. Five Joe Boys members were convicted of the shooting. The cause of the attack was vandalism by Wah Ching to the graves of several Joe Boy members and a shootout that took place a few months earlier that left one Joe Boy dead and two others wounded.[2][3] After the shootout occurred, the Wah Ching, though none of them had been killed or even injured in the attack, still killed several Joe Boys in retaliation.

In 1991, Danny "Ah Pai" Wong, the leader of Wah Ching, was shot and killed by Wo Hop To (WHT) hitmen. After the murder, most of the Wah Ching began working with the Wo Hop To.

After law enforcement cracked down on the Wo Hop To around 1992, former Wah Ching members who had defected to the Wo Hop To founded the Jackson Street Boys, a gang based in San Francisco's Chinatown which resumed what a SFPD officer described in 2000 as "the same stuff on a smaller scale and without the same visibility", including extortion of local merchants and operating gambling dens.[4]

In the mid-1990s, the Wah Ching was reported as being engaged in murder, extortion, drug trafficking and gambling, and expanded into software bootlegging.[5]

The Wah Ching Gang has an ongoing conflict with another rival Asian gang in Los Angeles, the Asian Boyz (ABZ), who also aligned themselves with the Vietnamese Boyz (VBZ) in opposition to Wah Ching. Wah Ching's move from its original home in the Bay Area to Southern California is probably one of the sources of the disputes over gang turf. Over the decades, the Wah Ching has evolved from a street gang to an organized crime group, however, due to the fact that a lot of the Wah Ching's criminal activity and murders have been motivated by political agendas, some agencies have classified the Wah Ching as a political terrorist organization.[1] There is law enforcement anecdotal evidence that suggests as a group the gang has developed strong associations with other Asian organized crime groups, such as the Wo Hop To and 14K Triads in Hong Kong.

Currently, the gang have shown signs of mixed ideology. Despite the fact that Wah Ching in Chinese literally means "Chinese Youth", there are still some individuals of non-Chinese descent who claim Wah Ching. The gang now consists of a large number of Vietnamese, Japanese, and Hmong members.[4] The same applies with their rivals, the Vietnamese Boyz, who have a great number of Chinese members.

Notable incidents
Main article: Murder of Lea Mek

The Wah Ching has been in a long conflict with the Asian Boyz.[6] One of the first shootouts between the two gangs occurred in the 1990s. The shooting occurred in El Monte at a pool hall. An Asian Boyz gang member, Lea Mek, was killed by Wah Ching gang member Chieu Luong Yang. Another shootout between the two gangs occurred in San Marino that led to the deaths of two youths at a San Marino High School graduation party in June. After an investigation by the authorities, police claimed that when the Asian Boyz gang members arrived to the party, they saw that Wah Ching gang members were there, so they left and came back later with weapons to open fire on the latter. Over nine gang members were arrested. Police searched the homes of the gang members and seized five weapons. The shootouts between the two gangs were called "Summer Madness" by the Asian Boyz gang and resulted in at least 42 deaths on both sides.[7][6]

in 2001, a 17–year–old Wah Ching member, who was an advanced placement student at Diamond Bar High School, shot and killed two members of the rival San Gabriel Killas (SGK) while attending a football game.

On December 2005, a 20 year old Wah Ching member murdered a Chicano man with unknown gang affiliation by running over him with a car in front of his house. He repeatedly backed over the man with the car while holding down the car's horn to ensure that neighbors in the area saw the act.

On June 2, 2007, Anh Duoc Nguyen, a member of Monterey Park-Side Wah Ching shot at five people in Westminster's Bowling Green Park, severely injuring one. The shootout was believed to be motivated by the fact that one of the victims changed his Myspace page bio to read "garden gang".

Sometime in 2009, a 14 year old member of Ocean-Side Wah Ching got into an argument with members of a rival Hispanic gang. During the argument, police report that one of the Hispanic gang members called the Asian teen a "Chink", and told him to "Go back to China". The Wah Ching gangster responded to the racial slur by pulling out a .45 caliber pistol and shooting the rival gang member.

[8]

Organization

The Wah Ching's main structure consists of one main boss under the union and various factions called sides who have leaders or lung tao ('dragon heads') who work together to organize their syndicates with the sole purpose of making money. The number of members in each side can vary anywhere from a few dozen to a couple thousand, and the total number of sides is believed to be around 10.[9]

Southern California sides
  • Joe Young - known as small plum moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles and founded wah Ching in the Los Angeles area. Murdered in 2017 in Los Angeles China town the founding father of wah Ching in the Los Angeles area founded 4 different sides.
  • Sonny-Side (SS-23) – One of the four original sides, estimated membership of ~4,000. Sonny also known as one of the first followers of joe young to branch his own side.
  • Ken-Side (KS-23) – One of the four original sides, estimated membership of ~5,000 , ken was the first Vietnamese Chinese to become triad head and also one of the first recruits of joe young.
  • Paul-Side (PS-23) – One of the four original sides, estimated membership of ~2,000. P-Side is located in the Greater Los Angeles area and is known for generating most of their income through legal means. Paul-Side was founded by Paul A, following joe young and starting his own side.
  • Taiwanese-Side (TS-23/Taiwanese Sunny Side-23/) – One of the four original sides, estimated membership of ~unknown. Taiwanese side founded by members of the original wah Ching members from San Francisco. The migration from San Francisco with joe young formed Taiwanese side.
  • Monterey Park-Side (MP-Side/ MP-23) – Located in Monterey Park, MP-Side is infamous for its narcotics sales and involvement in mass shootings. The Monterey park side was founded by a split between Paul side. One side stayed Paul side while the other was formed as Monterey park side.
  • Alhambra-Side (A-Side/ AS-23) – Located in Alhambra, A-Side was founded by members of San Francisco side , which later renamed to Alhambra side after members left the San Francisco side.
  • Ocean-Side (OS-23) – Although a relatively new side, Ocean-Side has gained a reputation for being violent and committing an abundant number of crimes. Ocean side was founded by ocean hence the name ocean side and was a close ally of sunny side.
  • Flip-Side (FS-23) – A side of the Wah Ching composed mainly of Filipinos, Flip-Side was believed to be the side that affiliated the Wah Ching with Bloods.

The four original sides, Ken-Side, Paul-Side, T-Side, and Sonny-Side, have a close relationship with one another and high-ranking members.

Known Northern California sides
  • 510-side (EO-23) – Located in East Oakland, this side was founded by OG members of Wah Ching, and some Hop Sing Boys. The gang became infamous for its ruthlessness after requiring newly initiated members to "23-mark" a rival gang member. This initiation required one to beat a rival gang member either to death or to the point of unconsciousness, then to take a knife and carve a phrase such as "Wah Ching" or "Property of EO-23" onto the victims chest or forehead.
  • Jackson-Side (Insane-Side Dragon Tribe/Tokyo Boyz/JS-23) – Founded by members of Alhambra-Side and Monterey Park-Side who went back to San Francisco to reestablish the gang's presence. When it was founded, Jackson-Side had no more than 100 members. However, shortly after it was founded, Jackson-Side merged with a local Japanese-American street gang known as Tokyo Boyz and after a few years, Jackson-Side grew to over 1,000 members. Recently, Jackson-Side Wah Ching has been more commonly known as Insane-Side Wah Ching, due to the Wah Ching's rivalry with the similarly named Jackson Street Boys as well as the gang's habit for gruesome crimes such as 23-marking. Jackson-Side Wah Ching gang members are also recognized Chinese Playground Boys.
  • 70-Side (X7-23) – A defunct side of the Wah Ching that was located on Alameda Island
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References
  1. "Life and Violent Death of Tony Young". SCMP. November 17, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  2. Make First Arrest in Golden Dragon Massacre of 1977, UPI, March 24, 1978.
  3. "People v. Yu (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d 358 , 191 Cal.Rptr. 859". Court of Appeals of California. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. Isaacs, Matt (June 14, 2000). "Twice Burned". San Francisco Weekly.
  5. Quittner, Joshua (June 5, 1995). "THE HOTTEST SOFTWARE IN TOWN". Time. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007.
  6. "Multi Agency Effort to Bring Two Violent Gang members to Justice". lapdonline.org. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  7. Torres, Viki (August 19, 1994). "Officials Link Gang Rivalry to Party Slayings". LA Times. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  8. "18 arrested in operation targeting San Gabriel Valley Asian gangs". WDN. May 21, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  9. "Asian Boyz Gang vs Wah Ching Gang in Los Angeles - Asian Boyz Gang Documentary". gangland. May 21, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
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