THE TRIADS TRACE THEIR BEGINNINGS TO SECRET SOCIETIES FOUNDED IN CHINA 2,000 YEARS AGO TO OPPOSE WARLORDS. THEIR ACTIVITIES AND THE NATURE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION, WHICH IS SO DIFFICULT FOR WESTERN POLICE TO PENETRATE, ARE PIECED TOGETHER THROUGH INTERVIEWS AND ON-THE-STREET FIELDWORK. MANY OF THE SOCIETIES ARE RESPECTED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. HOWEVER, MANY HAVE DEVELOPED CRIMINAL SUBGROUPS AND IN SOME CITIES IN WESTERN EUROPE NEARLY ALL THE TRIADS ARE ENGAGED IN PROSTITUTION, ILLEGAL GAMBLING, EXTORTION, AND HEROIN. A MAJOR PORTION OF THE WORLD'S RAW OPIUM IS GROWN IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, THE MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY ON THE BORDERS OF LAOS, BURMA, NORTH VIETNAM, AND THAILAND. THEN IT IS PROCESSED INTO ABOUT 80 TONS OF HEROIN ANNUALLY. THE DISTRIBUTION OF THIS HEROIN IS UNDER THE CONTROL OF TRIAD LEADERS IN HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, AND MALAYSIA, WHO DISTRIBUTE IT WORLDWIDE THROUGH THEIR COURIERS. WESTERN POLICE OFFICIALS DID NOT REALIZE EITHER THE EXTENT OF THE HEROIN TRAFFIC OR ITS ORGANIZATION UNTIL WELL INTO THE 1970'S. IT WAS THOUGHT THAT THE MAFIA CONTROLLED THE HARD DRUG TRADE, BUT MAFIA MEMBERS GET THEIR SUPPLIES FROM TRIAD BROKERS, WHO KEEP TIGHT CONTROL OVER THEIR DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS. CHINESE COLONIES IN LONDON AND AMSTERDAM ARE MAJOR DISTRIBUTION TERMINALS, ESPECIALLY AMSTERDAM BECAUSE DUTCH LAWS ARE QUITE LAX. TRIAD WARS, THE UNSOLVED MURDERS LEFT IN THE WAKE OF THESE WARS, AND THE DIFFICULTIES FACING WESTERN POLICE ARE ALL RECOUNTED IN THIS INFORMAL, JOURNALISTIC NARRATIVE. PHOTOGRAPHS ARE INCLUDED AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY IS APPENDED. (GLR)