Three mainlanders were arrested on Wednesday at a hotel in Cotai for overstaying in Macau and using counterfeit stay permits to stay at the hotel, while one of the trio illegally entered Macau, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference yesterday.
The two male and one female suspects, aged between 36 and 43, are surnamed Huang, Xue and Geng respectively, according to Lei, who added that Huang had been barred by the Public Security Police from entering Macau for two years in April last year, while Geng and Xue had overstayed in Macau since October 5, 2021, and June 19 last year respectively.
The Judiciary Police received a report at about 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday as the caller suspected that some people had booked hotel guestrooms with counterfeit stay permits, Lei said, adding that PJ officers intercepted Xue at the hotel’s lobby and found 10 “stay permits” on him and in his guestroom.
Afterwards, according to the tip-off, the officers intercepted a couple, Huang and Geng, in their guestroom, where they also discovered that they had three “stay permits” each, and the officers also found Geng’s fake Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents and People’s Republic of China Resident Identity Card, Lei noted.
Under questioning, Xue and Geng admitted that they have been overstaying in Macau, Lei said, adding that Huang also admitted that he had illegally entered Macau in July last year. The trio insisted that they had paid 500 yuan and 2,000 yuan to a woman through a social media platform to purchase four forged stay permits and a fake travel permit and a counterfeit ID card, which they used for booking local hotel guestrooms so that they could gamble in the city’s casinos, according to Lei.
The trio were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of document forgery and using forged documents, while Huang also faces an illegal entry charge, Lei noted.
At the same time, Lei said, as Huang could not provide a reasonable reason for the discrepancy between his parents’ names declared at the Public Security Police (PSP) in April last year and the names recorded at the Judiciary Police, he also faces charges of false identity declaration and illegal entry, according to Lei.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the three hooded mainland suspects to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
