The Ghost Shadows or GSS () was a
Chinese American
Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...
street gang that was prominent in New York City's
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s. Formed in 1971 by immigrants from
Taiwan and
Hong Kong, the gang is affiliated with the
On Leong Tong. They adopted the colors black and white as their clothing to match the name of the set. Throughout the 80s, the gang was often engaged in bloody turf wars with other Chinatown gangs such as the older
Flying Dragons
''Draco volans'', also commonly known as the common flying dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. www.reptile-database.org. Like other members of genus ''Draco'', this species has th ...
, affiliated with
Hip Sing Tong and the Division Street Boys affiliated with Tung On Association, and their activities included
extortion,
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
,
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
,
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
,
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
and
illegal gambling. The Ghost Shadows' influence was widespread, having links to Chinatowns in other cities as well as links to Sicilian-American Mafia families. The organization is defunct due to Federal RICO crackdowns during the 1990s.
Members
Wing Yeung Chan
Wing Yeung Chan was president of On Leong Tong and for a decade the leader of the Ghost Shadows. Charged with murder and racketeering, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
Applehead
Applehead (pronounced Apo with silent-L) one of the original founders of Ghost Shadows and a leader of breakaway factions of Ghost Shadows
["Youth gang leader isn't smiling anymore" ]
1978, Peter Arnett, AP Bayard Boys during the late 1970s up to his indictments on
RICO statutes in the mid-1980s.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Shadows
Chinese-American organized crime groups
Chinese-American culture in New York City
Former gangs in New York City
Street gangs
Triad groups