A male from the mainland who had entered Macau illegally by swimming was arrested last Monday for stealing a motorbike and the licence plates of another motorcycle earlier last month, a Public Security Police (PSP) spokesperson said during a regular press conference on Friday.
According to the spokesperson, the 40-year-old suspect, surnamed Lu, entered Macau illegally by swimming on November 20.
The spokesperson said that the Public Security Police received a report from a resident last Saturday that after parking his motorcycle in São Lourenço district he found the vehicle’s front and back licence plates missing when he went back to pick it up. The victim told the police he suspected that the licence plates had been stolen, with a loss of 2,000 patacas.
After scrutinising the police forces’ citywide CCTV camera system, the police identified Lu as the suspect, the spokesperson said, adding that the police also discovered that he rode a stolen motorbike when stealing the two licence plates. The stolen motorbike was found in Fai Chi Kei district. At the same time, the spokesperson pointed out, the Public Security Police confirmed that Lu had ridden the vehicle to a motorcycle shop in Fai Chi Kei, so PSP officers were dispatched to the scene to investigate.
The motorcycle shop’s owner told the police that Lu had offered to sell the motorbike, but he refused to buy it because Lu was not its owner.
After discovering that the motorcycle was stolen, Public Security Police contacted the vehicle’s owner, who then confirmed that items worth about 600 patacas had been stolen from the motorbike.
According to the spokesperson, the police intercepted Lu in Iao Hon district last Monday. He denied stealing the motorbike and licence plates, but admitted to entering Macau from Zhuhai illegally on November 20 by swimming.
Afterwards, the spokesperson said, the police went to a flat in Iao Hon district where Lu was staying, and found a 44-year-old local woman, surnamed Un, who works as a cleaner.
Un confessed that she had met Lu on the street, who asked her if she had a room to rent, adding that she charged Lu a monthly rent of 1,000-patacas for a bed, the spokesperson noted. Un told the police that Lu claimed that he had a permit to stay legally in Macau, but did not show it to her.
According to the spokesperson, both have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where Lu faces charges of theft, illegal immigration, driving without a licence, and possession of fake documents, while Un faces a charge of harbouring an illegal immigrant.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) on Friday shows PSP officers escorting the male mainland suspect and female local suspect to a police station in Nam Van.
