Catching the Kingpins: 4. Who Built EncroChat?

A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade.But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare FordhamArchive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

By the 1980s, Georgie Pai has been arrested in Glastonbury for overstaying a tourist visa, found guilty of terrorising Chinese communities in Southampton, and deported back to Hong Kong. But borders are no barrier for a man with the right connections. He slips back into Britain and continues to expand his empire.Manchester becomes his nerve centre as police begin building a database of suspected Triad gangsters. But with Wo Shing Wo’s growing power comes a rising tide of violence. One of Georgie Pai’s associates is brutally attacked with machetes, a warning that it is far from an isolated incident. Across the UK, violent clashes between rival Triad factions are becoming alarmingly common, each gang carving up territory in a bloody, escalating turf war.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Two Hong Kong nationals are arrested in Southampton after guns are found in a vehicle. One of them speaks to police, revealing that a flourishing protection racket is operating right under their noses. He also provides the name of their gang leader – Georgie Pai. Hampshire Constabulary sets up a Triad squad but quickly encounters a wall of silence. The terrified community fears not only for themselves but also for their relatives back in Hong Kong.Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, detectives hear similar reports of businesses being extorted and they hear that name again… Georgie Pai. He’s now on the radar of police across the country and under scrutiny from immigration authorities. But as his criminal empire grows, he forgets to renew his tourist visa. Georgie Pai is deported back to Hong Kong for the first time, but even in exile, he continues pulling the strings.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking.We visit Georgie Pai’s birthplace, a rural village close to the border of mainland China. Through those who knew him and the history of the region, we uncover how he was recruited into Wo Shing Wo and track his rise to the position of Red Pole – an enforcer with an army of disciples. But all that power can come at a cost.Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise KattenhornArchive: Drunken Master II: Golden Harvest, Paragon Films, Hong Kong Stuntmen Association. Directed by Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan.

In 1970s Britain, Chinese-heritage migrants worked long hours in restaurants and takeaways to build their new lives. But as the diaspora established itself, the gangs they thought they’d left behind in Hong Kong began to follow, quietly feeding off the very people they claimed to protect.Back in Hong Kong, Georgie Pai was already a senior member of Wo Shing Wo, one of the most feared Triad societies operating in the region's underworld. Triads are known for their rigid hierarchy, blood-sworn loyalty and reputation for ruthless enforcement. Georgie Pai travelled to the UK on a tourist visa and began working at his parents’ takeaway in Glastonbury. From there, he united scattered Triad factions around the country and recruited loyal foot soldiers. He built an extortion network targeting Chinese communities, with business owners ordered to pay protection cash. Those who refused were brutally punished. Presenter - Livvy Haydock Series Producer - Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producers – Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong – Michelle Chan Music – Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants – Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer – Clare FordhamArchive – The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

From the back alleys of Hong Kong to the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain, Georgie Pai built a nationwide criminal empire through his Triad gang Wo Shing Wo. With a network of protection rackets, gambling dens and an army of loyal followers, he controlled his turf with threats, violence and machetes. Gangster steps inside the world of the Triads. A brotherhood bound by secret handshakes and elaborate rituals, where loyalty is sworn in blood. For decades, Georgie Pai’s name alone caused absolute terror amongst Britain’s Chinese community. He was deported back to Hong Kong several times, but with police unable to pin him to a single crime, it was left to a team of journalists to bring him down. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Amy and Joe had been planning a future together, outside — but now they’re stuck behind bars, facing the consequences of their actions.In this final episode, host Amber Haque unpicks how their story ends - and finds there’s still love, but also loss.And for Amy, the question that lingers - was any of it ever real?Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Production management: Gaelan Davis-Connolly and Debbie Wadell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Louise Kattenhorn and Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning editor: Richard MaddockA BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Amy knows this is the final run - just one more package of drugs to smuggle in, one more drop-off before Joe walks free and maybe they can leave crime behind.But this time, someone is watching.Will the couple stay loyal to each other, as a wider conspiracy begins to unravel?Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 LiveDetails of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Highly-addictive, relatively cheap and easy to smuggle, Spice is running rampage through Britain’s prisons.And Spice is the reason Amy finds Joe zombie-like in his cell, eyes rolled back in his head.The reason, he’s in debt with other prisoners.The reason he’s asking her to smuggle something in for him. Again.Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 LiveDetails of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Smuggle one package of drugs into prison for her boyfriend Joe and he’ll be able to pay off his debts. That’s what Amy needs to do and then she can concentrate on planning their future together, or so she thinks. It’s not long till he’ll be released and then they can have the proper relationship she dreams of.Joe insists the smuggling is just a one-off, but will Amy do what he's asking?Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe KentA BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live