The Macau Customs Service said in a statement yesterday that a total of 73 smuggling cases were busted by its customs officers at the Barrier Gate and Qingmao checkpoints between last Saturday and Tuesday this week, in which five cases of contraband items were discovered by the terahertz security body scanner.
The statement noted that during the four-day operation, the seizures of contraband items included 2,803 make-up products, 24 Central Processing Units (CPU), 243 second-hand mobile phones and laptops, 12 smartwatches, about 2.7 litres of spirits, 321 units of pharmaceutical drugs and injection medicines, around two kilogrammes of cubilose, commonly known as bird’s nest, 9.5 kilogrammes of dried sea cucumber, two dietary supplements, five skincare products, 18 bottles of perfume, and nine other types of items.
Macau customs & police crack down on parallel trading in northern district
Moreover, the statement said, Macau Customs Service and Public Security Police (PSP) officers cracked down on a parallel trading spot in an industrial building in the northern district on Tuesday and seized around 500 kilogrammes of frozen beef omasum (tripe).
The statement noted that 14 men and two women, comprising a person-in-charge and an employee of the warehouse and 14 parallel traders were arrested at the scene on Tuesday. The statement added that 10 of the suspects are mainland non-resident workers (NRWs), while the remainder are local residents.
The 10 NRWs involved in parallel trading are suspected of violating regulations of the law on the employment of non-resident workers have been transferred to the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) for follow-up.
According to the statement, after an investigation by the Public Security Police, the person-in-charge and employee arrested at the scene, as well as two people responsible for the warehouse, have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where they face charges of wrongful employment.
The statement underlined that as the operators of the warehouse failed to show its business permit certificate, the case has been handed to the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) for follow-up.
This handout photo taken on Wednesday and provided by the Macau Customs Service yesterday shows frozen beef tripe seized from parallel traders on Wednesday in a warehouse at an industrial building in the northern district.
