ABSTRACT
To assist the reader in gaining an overview of Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American organized crime, the following excerpt is taken from the hearings on Asian Organized Crime held by the Permanent Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, of which Vietnamese crime was a part. The Subcommittee’s subsequent report summarized Vietnamese crime as follows:
In the United States, a few Vietnamese operate within the context of Chinese organized crime, but the largest Vietnamese crime problem is that of extremely, vicious street gangs. These gangs typically do not have the tight organizational structure of Chinese or Japanese organized crime groups, and have a much younger membership than other Asian criminal groups. Also, unlike the Chinese and Japanese groups, Vietnamese gangs do not have a centuries-old tradition of organized crime in their homeland. Vietnamese street gangs include both Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese (or Viet-Ching), who are most likely to forge functional relationships with Chinese organized crime groups.
The Vietnamese gangs sometimes serve as extortionists or enforcers for Chinese-American syndicates; their use of violence is common and frequently brutal. Some Vietnamese gangs also specialize in violent home-invasion robberies, often of other Vietnamese-Americans. These gangs are highly mobile and prey on Vietnamese in various parts of the U.S.
The Born To Kill gang, headquartered in New York City, exemplifies the Vietnamese street gang. The Born To Kill was allegedly formed in 1988 by 35-year-old David Thai, who split off from the Flying Dragons. Many of the members of the Born To Kill are in their teens and early twenties. Born To Kill members engage in a variety of criminal activities in New York City, 244including extortion and armed robbery, and frequently travel to such places as upstate New York and Connecticut, and even as far as Georgia to commit armed robberies and crimes of violence against other Asians and Asian businesses. We have seen significant Vietnamese gang activity in New York City, New Orleans, Houston, Miami, Arlington, Virginia, San Francisco, and San Jose. 173
