THE NEW CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY - ASIAN GANGS AND ORGANIZED-CRIME IN SAN-FRANCISCO

Research indicates that there is wide variation in the social organiza tion of gangs in relation to drug sales. Few attempts have examined As ian gangs in this regard, despite the prevalence of the conspiratorial view among some police, policymakers, and journalists that Asian gang s are intricately connected to organized crime groups in Chinese commu nities and Asia and to heroin trafficking. This article examines the r elationship between Asian gangs and organized crime in light of curren t theoretical frameworks. The analysis is based on data from an ethnog raphic study and suggests that the connections between Asian gangs and organized crime operations are not at all clear and are best conceptu alized as associations between individuals in groups rather than as cr iminal conspiracies. The discussion provides several reasons for the a bsence of a formal organizational structure.