A female non-resident worker (NRW) from Indonesia was arrested on Tuesday for drug trafficking, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Un Hong said during a special press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the suspect as a 38-year-old domestic helper surnamed Yulianti.
According to Division Chief Sub-inspector Lau Weng Kun from the Special Investigation Division (DIESP), based on intelligence from the Hong Kong Customs, the Judiciary Police (PJ) identified Yulianti as a suspected drug trafficker. Yulianti was allegedly instructed by a transnational drug trafficking organisation to receive a parcel containing drugs that had been sent from a West African country and transited through several countries before arriving in Macau.
Lau noted that the parcel arrived in Macau on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, the police put the logistics company in the city centre, where the parcel was waiting to be collected, under surveillance, apprehending Yulianti on the spot as she signed for the parcel and prepared to return to her flat. The police discovered that the parcel contained 24 boxes of cosmetics, each concealing six small bottles, totalling 144 bottles. The police found 15 grams of white powder wrapped in cling film at the bottom of each bottle under the original contents. The police confirmed that the white powder was cocaine, weighing a total of 2,160 grams, with an estimated street value of 4 million patacas.
Under questioning, Yulianti admitted to receiving the parcel as instructed but denied involvement in drug trafficking. However, evidence suggested that Yulianti was allegedly assisting the drug trafficking organisation by receiving the drugs while fully aware of the situation, intending to transfer them to neighbouring areas as directed by the gang leader.
Yulianti was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a charge of drug trafficking.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded drug-trafficking suspect to a PJ van outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ada Lei
