Two suspects were arrested on Monday near the shoreline at the airport in Taipa for people smuggling using a sampan to bring mainlanders illegally into Macau, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said at a special press conference yesterday.
Three other suspects aged between 40 and 43 were also caught at the scene. Leng identified them as illegal immigrants who were banned from entering Macau for two to four years for various crimes, including fraud, theft and overstaying, that they committed from 2021 to 2022.
The two suspects are a 33-year-old man surnamed Wu and a 34-year-old man surnamed Cheng. They told the police that they are fishermen. The sampan was unlicensed, unregistered and unnamed, Leng added.
According to Leng, the Judiciary Police received intelligence around a month ago that a people-smuggling gang was using a sampan to transport mainlanders illegally to Macau. The police then launched a joint investigation with the Macau Customs Service (SA) and took joint action on Monday. The two forces discovered the vessel off the waterfront near the Macau International Airport in Taipa, intercepted it and arrested the five suspects.
Upon questioning, Wu and Cheng denied their involvement in people smuggling and refused to cooperate with the police, while the illegal immigrants admitted to the offence, adding that Wu and Cheng asked them to pretend to be oyster farmers should the police intercept and question them.
The three illegal immigrants said that they were charged between 10,000 (11,848 patacas) and 15,000 yuan each per trip, according to Leng, adding that Cheng was the skipper while Wu was tasked with looking out for the police and helping their clients ashore. The duo are alleged members of a people-smuggling gang.
The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation and are looking for other possible members of the gang, Leng said.
Wu and Cheng were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday morning, facing charges of organised crime and aiding and abetting illegal immigration, and illegal stay, according to Leng.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai (centre), accompanied by a PJ division chief, as well as customs officer Chan Weng Hei look on during yesterday’s press conference at the PJ headquarters. – Photos: William Chan
Evidence such as raincoats, boots, smartphones and cash seized from the suspects is displayed in a pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters yesterday.
