A local student was arrested on New Year’s Day for receiving drugs that he was planning to sell in Macau to earn “easy money”, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a special press conference on Sunday.
The 21-year-old suspect surnamed Chao told the police that he is a university student.
According to Lou, the Judiciary Police and the Macau Customs together have stepped up random checks of parcels delivered to Macau during the holiday season to prevent criminals from smuggling drugs. On New Year’s Eve, the Macau Customs suspected a parcel was containing drugs and notified the Judiciary Police for follow-up investigation.
Lou said that the Judiciary Police identified the parcel’s recipient and put the suspect under surveillance on New Year’s Day in the centre of Taipa. PJ officers arrested Chao in the afternoon when he signed the parcel’s receipt from a pick-up point. The officers seized the parcel containing cookies together with 55 packets of cocaine weighing a total of 17.64 grammes with an estimated street value of about 58,000 patacas.
Under questioning, Chao admitted that he was hired by a gang through a smartphone app called “easy money” (搵快錢). He told the police that the gang offered him a monthly “salary” of 3,000 patacas and promised to pay him additional earnings after selling the drugs. Lou said that it was the first time that Chao committed the crime and he had not yet received any further instructions from the gang as to how and where to sell the drugs.
The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation into the case to identify the source of the drugs and other suspects involved in the case.
Chao was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Sunday morning, facing a trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances charge, according to Lou.
The hooded drug suspect is escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle on Sunday. Photos courtesy of TDM
Evidence seized from the suspect such as cookies, 55 packets of drugs, a smartphone and a computer tablet is displayed at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters on Sunday.
