An infamous crime gang in S'pore used to be called 'Ah Kong'. They sold drugs & killed people.

They were really notorious.

Tanya Ong | September 19, 2017, 12:25 PM

In Singapore, "Ah Kong" usually refers to a grandfather.

But that's not all. A quick Google search of "Ah Kong" and "SG" yields this local cafe:

Screenshot from Google.

In this case, "Ah Kong" neither refers to your grandfather nor the government. Instead, the inspiration for the cafe actually stems from a Singaporean-run organised crime gang from the 1970s called "Ah Kong".

Even though the founders of the gang were Singaporean, they controlled the European heroin market from their gang headquarters in Amsterdam. According to the cafe, the gang was run by someone named Roland (aka "Hylam Kia", meaning "Hainanese kid") who

"...never lost his taste for Singaporean food despite living in Amsterdam for many years; he paid flight stewards to bring him his favourite dishes from home."

While all this sounds rosy and nostalgic, the history of Ah Kong is fraught with sinister overtones of vice and violence.

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Vice, violence & the thug life

Organised crime and secret societies have existed in Singapore since the 19th century, however, the origin story of Ah Kong began in 1969 when Roland and several of his "brothers" clashed with members of another gang.

Roland and his men plotted their escape to Holland, the global centre for heroin distribution then, and set their sights on the lucrative drug trade there.

In order to establish control of the drug empire, Roland and his men killed members from other triads and gangs such as Hong Kong-based 14K and Wo Shing Wo. Armed with knives, and later on, revolvers, they were notorious for being fearless and ruthless.

Their gang was called "Ah Kong", supposedly referring to "Kong Si", or "company" in Hokkien. True to its name, the organised gang operated like a corporation with clear hierarchies.

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By 1976, the gang became a major player in the European drug scene and smuggled pure-grade heroin all over the world.

The drug industry was lucrative, and the gang amassed great wealth and soon expanded its influence in other money-spinning enterprises such as casinos and nightclubs.

However, despite the heavy involvement in selling drugs, Ah Kong never allowed its own members to take drugs. They believed that when members got addicted, they'd resort to stealing, which in turn affected the smooth running of their business operations.

Gradual demise of the gang

In the 1970s, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) implemented an anti-drug abuse campaign to cope with the heroin-addiction problem in Singapore. Traffickers and addicts were rounded up under Operation Ferret in 1977.

Ah Kong was not spared from the CNB's efforts.

In 1978, an anti-drug operation cracked down on the gang. Many of the key gang members were arrested, and large amounts of heroin were also seized.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="917"] Ah Kong members. Image via[/caption]

Roland managed to escape the crackdown though. He went into hiding in Europe and the gang was subsequently led by a new generation of leaders in the 1980s and 1990s.

By the 1990s, it was clear that Ah Kong would never be able to regain its former glory. Yet, the damage was already done. Over the course of several decades, the gang saw multiple clashes and assassinations, leaving a trail of bodies in its wake.

Now that you know all of this, you can never think of "Ah Kong" in the same way again.

 

Top photo adapted from NAS.

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