Ethnic criminal gangs in Sydney

A police report just published in Australia says that more than forty gangs are battling for control of heroin, extortion and prostitution rackets in the country's biggest city, Sydney.

The gangs are made up mostly of Chinese, Vietnamese and Lebanese criminals.

The report says that some gang members as young as sixteen are engaged in violence, intimidation and fraud in a growing gang war.

The New South Wales state police commissioner Peter Ryan also warned that Russian crime syndicates were moving into the country by establishing a string of legitimate cafes and restaurants to launder money.

Police have linked forty recent shootings in a Sydney suburb to two violent gangs they say are run by Vietnamese criminals.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service