A new academic report claims that Macau’s casino junket operators retain strong ties to Hong Kong triads and that casino management relies on these links to determine a junket’s credibility.

Portuguese-language news agency Lusa recently reported on a new study by City University of Hong Kong professors, who suggested that junkets have evolved from their early renegade incarnations to a more corporate philosophy in which violence – whether to settle differences with rival operators or to collect debts from customers – is viewed as an absolute last resort.

The study, which was compiled over a period of three years from interviews with junket operators, triad members, casino staff and law enforcement officials, acknowledges that not all junkets are linked to triads but that such links are helpful to ensure gamblers recognize that their debts – which are legally unenforceable on the Chinese mainland – must be honored.

Casino management also reportedly takes a junket’s triad connections into account to ensure that a junket can maintain order at the VIP rooms under its control, although casinos are likely to shed ties to junkets that garner a reputation for violence rather than risk blowback from gaming regulators.