For the gang featured in Grand Theft Auto III, see Liberty City Triads (3D Universe).
For the gang featured in Grand Theft Auto V, see Los Santos Triads.
For other uses, see Triads.
The Liberty City Triads are the main Chinese crime syndicate operating in Liberty City that appears in Grand Theft Auto IV, Episodes from Liberty City, and featured in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
The Triads are led by Jaoming Family patriarch Hsin Jaoming until his retirement in 2009, and succeeded by Wu "Kenny" Lee for a short period of time before leaving the fate of the organization's leadership unknown.
Overview[]
They operate out of the Chinatown district in Algonquin as well as parts of Dukes in Liberty City, prominently in Cerveza Heights. They are mostly involved with drug shipping.
The LCPD Database states that there are three different sets of the Triads. The most important group of Triads are under Hsin Jaoming and his son Chan Jaoming. Another group is led by Wu "Kenny" Lee and his nephew Huang Lee. The third group is controlled by Zhou Ming. The Jaoming Family is said to supply the Angels of Death and North Korean street gangs (including the Korean Mob and the Midtown Gangsters) with narcotics.
In 2008, an unnamed Triad group arrived in Liberty City in the Platypus ship with a shipment of heroin. It is not clear if this group is affiliated with the other three big organizations, although an affiliation with the Jaoming Family is most likely as they are known to deal heroin with the the Angels of Death as well as the Ming Family which their business deals with renovation. They are also seen driving Sum Yung Gai vans (a Lee Family front) during Truck Hustle.
In 2009, other smaller splinter groups led by Triad traitors are wiped out under orders of Hsin Jaoming.
Events of Grand Theft Auto IV[]
The Triads are first encountered in the mission Harboring a Grudge, where Niko Bellic and Patrick McReary ambush a drug shipment at the docks in Algonquin organised by the Ming Family Triad group and steal a truck loaded with cloned meds from Zhou Ming's warehouse.
Later, in the mission Truck Hustle, Niko steals a truck containing heroin from another Triad gang, acting on behalf of Pegorino Crime Family associate Phil Bell, after word gets around town that the Triads are scared that their heroin is cursed, and are trying to get rid of the drugs at any price in the other side of the West River.
Events of The Lost and Damned[]
In the mission Action/Reaction, Johnny Klebitz and The Lost MC destroy the Angels of Death Clubhouse and steal their heroin in retaliation for the murder of Jason Michaels in Broker. After an attempt to offload the heroin leads to Johnny narrowly escaping an LCPD sting, The Lost decide to sell the heroin back to the Triads, after Jim Fitzgerald reveals that the Triads originally smuggled the heroin into Liberty City through a cargo ship called the Platypus, before it was stolen by the Angels of Death, who then inform the Triads that The Lost have their heroin. Unfortunately, the heroin deal turns into a Triad ambush, with Johnny and Jim escaping, Billy getting himself arrested by the LCPD, and the Triads reclaiming their heroin. The Triad ambush on Johnny Klebitz and Jim Fitzgerald is led by the same Triad gangster who had previously met with Tony and Luis to discuss business.
Events of The Ballad of Gay Tony[]
The Triads are only encountered, mission-wise, in Chinese Takeout. Luis Fernando Lopez and Tony Prince head over to a high-rise building in Chinatown, as Rocco Pelosi has promised a Triad gangster that they can resolve a licensing issue for them with the planning department. This mission also confirms the fact that Billy Grey betrayed the The Lost MC by luring them into a Triad ambush.
Luis assaults the Triad gangster after he pulled out a gun on the two of them, and both escape the building, which is still under construction, following a shootout with the Triads.
Rocco later reveals at the public toilets in Middle Park that the Triads are still hostile with them over the shootout at the Dragon Heart Plaza construction site.
Events of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars[]
Main article: War in Chinatown
In 2009, Mr. Lee, father of Huang Lee and top contender to replace the retiring Hsin Jaoming as Triad leader, is murdered under mysterious circumstances in Kowloon. Huang travels to Liberty City in 2009 to deliver his father's sword, Yu Jian, to the new patriarch of the Lee family, Uncle Wu "Kenny" Lee, who intends to present it to Hsin in order to gain favor for the position of Triad boss. Unbeknownst to Hsin, the sword is actually worthless, its tradition having been invented by Mr. Lee after he won it in a card game. As Huang Lee arrives at Francis International Airport, he is ambushed by several mysterious thugs, who steal the sword and leave Huang for dead.
Having fallen out of favor with Hsin for the loss of the sword, Kenny enlists his nephew's help in regaining lost territory and reputation, while Huang continues his search for both the thieves who stole Yu Jian (leaving him for dead) and the identity of his father's killer. He goes on to work for top Triad lieutenants Chan Jaoming, the feeble-minded son of Hsin with a penchant for street races, who often employs Huang to clean up his mistakes - including rescuing Chan from the Irish-American Killers, who have kidnapped him, destroying Chan's contraband before the FIB get their hands on it, and using Huang to wipe out a large number of Chan's entourage in a surprise ambush at Happiness Island after it was revealed that one of his top men was an FIB informant - and Zhou Ming, a narcissist who sometimes displays borderline psychotic behavior and is involved in audacious endeavours, including committing a bank robbery and using a Chinese Red Dragon costume to escape the police, arranging for Huang to hijack an ambulance containing an old friend of Zhou's from Francis International Airport which is then delivered to his club in East Island City, and sending Huang to retrieve the cargo from his destroyed contraband boat. The Triads also frequently come under attack by the Spanish Lords, who have long been enemies of the Triads. The Spanish Lords interfere with Triad business in many ways: by turning on Chan and Huang at a drug deal between the two parties in Northwood, by attacking Uncle Kenny's merchandise at his East Island City warehouse, and by sabotaging a speedboat that Chan had stolen from them, leading to an attempt to assassinate him on open water.
The Triads also become close business partners with the Messina Crime Family, to the extent that Huang helps Hsin's business associates in the Mafia smuggle contraband merchandise into the city. Huang Lee later inadvertently sabotages the Triads' truce with the Messina family, after almost killing Jimmy Capra, a Messina made man, on Rudy D'Avanzo's orders. In order to redeem himself, Huang assassinates Rudy D'Avanzo.
Hsin Jaoming, father of underboss Chan Jaoming and leader of the Triads until 2009
It is also revealed throughout the game that the Triads employ the help of the Korean Midtown Gangsters as hired muscle, in a similar fashion to the Ancelotti Crime Family using the now defunct Albanian Mob as hired muscle, or the Pegorino Crime Family using the McReary Crime Family as hired muscle. However, during the events of the game, Huang discovers, through the help of the LCPD undercover detective Wade Heston, that the Korean gangsters want to become independent of the family, and that they also might have been involved with the robbery of the Yu Jian Sword. Because of this, Huang performs several attacks against the Koreans, such as causing a carnage to put one of the Koreans in jail, beheading two of their members and destroying one of their main bases. The Midtown Gangsters gradually grow weaker due to the actions of Huang and the Triads, leading to Hsin dispatching Huang to destroy a weapons shipment at the docks, out of fear that the Midtown Gangsters might use the weapons against the Triads, and the Midtown Gangsters losing control of a protection racket at a Castle Garden construction site to the Irish gangsters, prompting Zhou Ming to dispatch Huang to drive them out.
Hsin's insistence that a federal informant is compromising Triad business leads to severe retribution. Under Hsin's orders, Huang executes several Triads suspected of being the rat, and a brief war between the Triads and the Korean Midtown Gangsters, who had long been loyal to the Triads, follows. With the aid of LCPD detective Wade Heston, Huang discovers that a sect of the Midtown Gangsters, a group of assassins known as the Wonsu Nodong, was responsible for the theft of Yu Jian and harboring the FIB rat. Hsin enlists the services of private investigator Lester Leroc, who Huang helps to infiltrate the Angels of Death, following rumours that the rat might be within their ranks. Huang is also tricked by mobster Rudy D'Avanzo into doing his bidding, under the pretense that he will get concrete evidence that proves Jimmy Capra to be the rat, not realizing that D'Avanzo is using him as his muscle in his war against the Messinas.
Ultimately, a document recovered by Huang and Heston names both Chan and Zhou as rats. Huang informs his uncle Kenny of this, and the two present the evidence to Hsin, who is disgraced by the possibility of his son betraying his Triads and decides to retire to Macau, naming Kenny his successor. Kenny promptly orders Chan and Zhou's executions, which Huang carries out with little remorse, despite both men denying the accusations against them.
However, Heston learns the document incriminating Chan and Zhou was a fake, and at a meeting on Charge Island, Huang discovers that Kenny is the rat, murdered his brother (Huang's father) and orchestrated the theft of Yu Jian with the Wonsu Nodong in order to disgrace Hsin and take his place as Triad leader. Huang pursues Kenny to Hsin's penthouse, where he injures Hsin with Yu Jian, the weapon having been in his possession all along. Huang takes his revenge and kills Kenny, while the wounded Hsin is arrested by the police, leaving the Triads without a leader. However, before being taken away, Hsin offers the position to Huang, who does not respond.
Vehicles[]
The Triads are seen to drive a number of customized vehicles from 2008 to 2009, the time periods of Grand Theft Auto IV and Chinatown Wars.
In GTA IV, a Triad variant of the Feroci, known as the JDM VIP, can be seen driven by Triad gangsters in Chinatown, Algonquin. It features a chin and spoiler not seen on standard Ferocis, as well as gold rims, a dark blue paintjob, and Chinese knotting hung from the rearview mirror. It displays superior performance to the standard Feroci.
In addition to the JDM VIP, the Triads also drive custom variants of the Intruder known as the Intruder VX, which sport a red paintjob, sideskirts and a spoiler, and the same knotting seen on the Triad Ferocis. Both of those cars play Electro-Choc or Radio Broker by default.
In GTA Chinatown Wars, the custom Ferocis and Intruders have seemingly been replaced by a custom variant of the Hellenbach. Painted in the Triad's signature lavender purple, it features a white stripe running the length of the car, large bumpers and sideskirts, blue neon underglow visible only at night, and nitrous-enhanced top speed. It can be seen patrolling Triad territory in Cerveza Heights, Chinatown and Lower Easton and typically contains one or two Triad gangsters armed with SMG's. In this game, they listen to Prairie Cartel, Sinowav FM or DFA.
Additionally, other gang cars appear in GTA Chinatown Wars. These include a Triad Admiral variant, that is seen parked around Cerveza Heights. This one has a different engine and horn sound from the regular Admiral and plays the DJ Khalil or Alchemist radio stations by default instead of the Admiral's Truth & Soul. Another car used by the Triads is a tuned Comet variant, this one has a better top speed from the regular Comet, and has a red neon underglow at night. It is used solely by the Jaoming Family, and as such can be found only in missions involving them and in rampages involving them. It plays Deadmau5 by default.
Mission Appearances[]
Grand Theft Auto IV[]
- The Cousins Bellic (Heroin Trade Group)
- Harboring a Grudge (Ming Family)
- Truck Hustle (Heroin Trade Group; Possibly wiped out)
The Lost and Damned[]
- This Shit's Cursed (Heroin Trade Group)
The Ballad Of Gay Tony[]
- Chinese Takeout (Heroin Trade Group)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars[]
Mission appearances other than Huang himself and the bosses who give him missions:
- Yu Jian (Lee Family)
- Recruitment Drive (Lee Family)
- Jackin' Chan (Jaoming Family)
- Raw Deal (Jaoming Family)
- Slaying With Fire (Jaoming Family)
- Stealing the Show (Ming Family)
- Bomb Disposal (Jaoming Family)
- Dragon Haul Z (Ming Family)
- Torpedo Run (Ming Family)
- So Near, Yet Sonar (Ming Family)
- The Offshore Offload (Jaoming Family)
- One Shot, One Kill (Jaoming Family FIB informant; Killed)
- By Myriads of Swords (Jaoming Family traitors; Wiped Out)
- Friend or Foe? (Jaoming Family)
- Rat Race (Jaoming Family)
- Clear the Pier (Jaoming Family splinter group; Wiped Out)
- Hit from the Tong (Ming Family; Wiped Out)
- Salt in the Wound (Triad Organization as a whole; Kenny's bodyguards)