Remember Wan Kuok Koi aka "BrokenTooth"?

Front page of Time magazine - "Enter the Dragon"

Known as ‘Broken Tooth’ and notorious for being former leader of the 14K triad, Wan Kuok Koi was arguably Macau’s most infamous criminal. His name is synonymous with the now long-gone pre-handover triad-related violence that shook the city in the 1990s.

In 2012, a few months before his release from prison, where he served 14 years following convictions for criminal association, loan-sharking, and illegal gambling, his imminent freedom stirred anticipation.

What has he been up to over the past decade?

Martin Purbrick, a former Hong Kong Royal Police officer who, during the 1990s, worked alongside a special intelligence unit comprising Portuguese officers in the Macau Judiciary Police (MJP), alleges that senior security representatives met with Wan shortly before his release.

In his newsletter Asian Crime Century, Purbrick claims that they asked Wan to leverage his influence in the underworld to keep violence to a minimum and to establish a platform that promoted peace, harmony, and unity rooted in Chinese culture and history.

In 2013, Wan became President of the World Hongmen History and Culture Association (世界洪門歷史文化協會), which, according to Purbrick, had the stated aim “To love the nation, organise cultural exchange activities in various places, and pass on the history and culture of the Revolution of 1911.”

In February 2018, in a speech that was leaked in a video clip, Wan revealed plans to set up a “Hongmen Security Company” for Chinese merchants involved in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, emphasising that the association’s motto was “loving and supporting the country, Macau, and Hong Kong.”

Wan, through his Hongmen association, has drawn attention since at least 2020, when he was named in a joint advisory issued by the US Department of State, US Department of the Treasury, and US Department of Commerce. The advisory described him as an example of a criminal element involved in Cambodia’s casino industry.

That same year, he was linked to a series of arrests on the island of Palau, which targeted and deported hundreds of predominantly Chinese nationals engaged in illegal online gambling operations based in the country.

In 2021, Macau authorities were notified by Interpol that Wan Kuok Koi was wanted. The Interpol red alert was reportedly issued at the request of Malaysian authorities on suspicion of fraud.

by João Paulo Meneses