Self-confessed triad member Mr Liu, 35, is arrested at his Ting Kok Road home last night: police seized millions of dollars of drugs, cash and luxury items

A self-professed triad who attacked AN Bus founder Franki Li during a traffic altercation has been arrested after police tracked him down and found millions of dollars of drugs and cash in the gangster’s Tai Po den.

Online video last week showed the man, Mr Liu, 35, berating and attacking minibus driver Li after an apparent traffic incident in Cheung Sha Wan on 6 January. In the video, Liu, who’d jumped out of a black Porsche SUV, claimed to be a triad and struck Li multiple times while passengers watched in horror.

Police earlier arrested the owner of the Porsche on suspicion of helping the triad to escape and this morning tracked Liu down to his village house on Ting Kok Road. On Liu’s person they found 101 grams of crack cocaine, while a search of his house revealed 1.6 kg of “derringer”-branded cocaine, worth about $1.7 million, a boxed $1 million Patek Philippe watch and $390,000 in cash, as well as “strategic items” including gas masks without valid import permits. The Porsche involved in the traffic altercation was also found at the house and seized.

Three others aged between 30 and 57 were also arrested in the house, including a local man and woman and a “non-Chinese” woman. All were suspected of drug trafficking and violation of the “Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations”.

Franki Li’s AN Bus set to challenge the corruption of Hong Kong’s “Flying cars of death” and offer a clean on-demand service to passengers

Franki Li’s minibus business, AN Bus, launched in late 2019, was considered a breath of fresh air for the festering red minibus business, operating with electronic payment and booking and with clean, well-maintained buses.

Li had said the flexibility of red minibuses, which operate without fixed route or fare, made them ideal for experimenting with “on demand” bus services.

But such flexibility has also made red minibuses a hotbed of triad corruption, with a reputation for smoky, dirty, poorly maintained vehicles and little government oversight earning them the nickname “Flying Cars of Death”.

In answer to questions whether the triad attack was some kind of warning to AN Bus, Li told Transit Jam the dispute with the triad was purely a “traffic matter”.

Triads ruling Ting Kok Road

The area around Liu’s house is well-known for criminal activities, yet police and authorities rarely make an appearance. Drugs are openly sold in the illegal car parks behind the main road while the local car public park is used as a regular staging area for illegal street racing. Gangsters in Liu’s village have removed cycle lane bollards to allow themselves illegal car access to their houses, driving on cycle tracks with impunity. But  authorities, including Transport Department, have been unwilling to challenge the dominance of the de facto community leaders.

Police last night stressed they do take triad activities seriously and that further arrests cannot be ruled out.

“The Police reiterated that cracking down on triad activities has always been one of the Commissioner’s top priorities. The Police will continue to conduct intelligence-led operations to crack down on relevant triad activities and their sources of income,” said a statement.