Camy Tam
Eight suspects were arrested on Wednesday in Macau and Zhuhai for their involvement in people-smuggling using a wooden boat to carry mainlanders illegally in and out of Zhuhai and Macau, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said during a special press conference yesterday.
According to Chan, the Judiciary Police received intelligence recently that a people-smuggling gang was assisting people to travel illegally between Macau and Zhuhai. PJ officers identified the suspected gang members and were aware that the gang planned to smuggle a number of “clients” between Macau and Zhuhai on Wednesday.
Chan said the Judiciary Police notified the Macau Customs Service Bureau and took action jointly with the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau (PSP) early on Wednesday. A wooden boat docked at a construction site near the Taipa Ferry Terminal at about 3 a.m. and immediately left after dropping off three illegal immigrants that were on board, who PJ officers and the Macau Customs officers then arrested after they had come ashore. The illegal immigrants comprise two women surnamed Liu, aged 26, Zhang aged 36 and a man surnamed Duan, aged 30.
According to Chan, customs officers intercepted the wooden boat at sea, and arrested a 19-year-old jobless mainland man surnamed Wu, the vessel’s skipper, and a 35-year-old mainland man surnamed Xu who was being smuggled out of Macau at that time. Wu admitted that he had been hired by the gang and received 500 yuan for each client. The gang charged each client between 25,000 yuan and 32,000 yuan per trip.
The Zhuhai Public Security Bureau simultaneously took action and arrested two male key gang members aged 25 and 33, and a 29-year-old man who was also involved in the case.
Wu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning, facing charges of organised crime and aiding and abetting people smuggling, according to Chan.
