Three suspects and four suspects were arrested on Monday in Macau and Zhuhai respectively for their involvement in a people-smuggling gang which used a wooden boat to carry mainlanders illegally in and out of Zhuhai and Macau, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
It is the first case since Macau new Immigration, Stay and Residency law took effect on Monday. The Judiciary Police, Macau Customs Service and Zhuhai Public Security Bureau (PSB) cooperated in the joint operation.
A mainlander was arrested on Monday night on the boat near the shoreline in Estrada Almirante Marques Esparteiro (史伯泰海軍將軍馬路) in Taipa. The 33-year-old suspect surnamed Liu is from Jiangxi province. He told the police that he is a casual worker at construction sites.
Two men from Zhejiang and Hunan provinces respectively were caught by the local police in Estrada Almirante Marques Esparteiro and one of them had previously illegally entered Macau. According to Leng, the duo are illegal immigrants who arrived together in Macau on the boat arranged by the gang while the Zhuhai police arrested four gang members including the suspected kingpin aged between 28 and 42.
According to Leng, the local police recently received intelligence that a people-smuggling gang was using boats to transport mainlanders illegally between Zhuhai and Macau. The three authorities identified some of the gang members and decided to take action on Monday.
Leng said Liu admitted that he was hired by the gang as their skipper and received 2,000 yuan (2,500 patacas) for each client while the gang charged up to 30,000 yuan for each client. Leng said the Judiciary Police believe that the gang has been completely smashed.
Liu was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime and aiding and abetting illegal immigrants, according to Leng.
The hooded people-smuggling suspect – the gang’s skipper – is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle yesterday. Photo: Camy Tam
This handout photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows a PJ officer checking a wooden boat berthed near the shoreline in Estrada Almirante Marques Esparteiro in Taipa on Monday night.
