Hong Kong - A triad gang leader has been arrested in Hong Kong in the killing of a feared rival who was hacked to death outside a luxury hotel in Hong Kong, police said Friday.

The man known as Ah Ting was ambushed by police Thursday after failed attempts to flee Hong Kong following the August 4 killing of Lee Tai-lung, 44.

Lee, known as the "Baron of Tsim Sha Tsui East," was run down by a van and then hacked to death outside the five-star Kowloon Shangri-la Hotel by three knifemen following in a car.

Lee was a senior member of the Sun Yee On triad faction in Tsim Sha Tsui with a reputation as a ferocious fighter who often played the role of enforcer on behalf of his gang.

His killing appeared to be linked to a long-running battle between Lee's Sun Yee On and the Wo Shing Wo triad factions for control of the lucrative entertainment district in Tsim Sha Tsui.

A report in the South China Morning Post said police believe Ah Ting and an accomplice called Tattoo Chung, both leaders of factions of the Wo Shing Wo, were key figures in the plot to kill Lee.

Tattoo Chung was seriously injured in 2006 in a brawl involving 50 members of the two rival factions. He was still being sought by police.

The arrest of Ah Ting brought the total number of those arrested in connection with the murder to 21 so far. Nine have been charged.

Police claim to have arrested as many as 1,000 people in a crackdown on triad activities over the past five weeks.

In 3,800 raids, officers said they have also seized an array of weapons, drugs and pirated goods worth almost 6.7 million Hong Kong dollars (865,000 US dollars) and betting slips on horse races and football matches worth 11 million Hong Kong dollars.

The influence of triad gangs in Hong Kong has waned in recent years since their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, but they are still reckoned by police to be responsible for 3 per cent of all crime in the city. (dpa)