Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday that in the follow-up investigation into a drug trafficking case uncovered last year, PJ officers intercepted one more local woman yesterday morning at her workplace in the northern district for providing her three bank accounts details – two in the mainland and one in Macau – to assist the drug gang in collecting and transferring drug funds, involving at least 700 transactions totalling over three million patacas.
Leng said that the 31-year-old suspect, surnamed Lam, works as a waitress.
According to Leng, in 2021, at the request of the local Financial Intelligence Office (GIF), the Judiciary Police launched an investigation into a money laundering case. The investigation confirmed that a man had received 700,000 patacas through his bank account between 2019 and 2021, and then withdrew the money in Zhuhai, so they intercepted the man in May 2021 for allegedly collecting and transferring drug proceeds, who was then transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP).
After expanding the scope of investigation based on the evidence obtained from the case and analysing the man’s bank accounts, Leng said, the Judiciary Police found that three of the bank accounts were in Lam’s name, and over 10 suspected drug buyers’ transactions were recorded in these accounts, involving 700 transactions totalling more than three million patacas. Leng pointed out that the operational pattern of the three bank accounts was similar to that of drug trafficking, with cash being deposited in Macau but withdrawn from ATMs in Zhuhai, mostly from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Under questioning, Lam, who admitted to committing the crime, insisted that she has been friends with the gang’s key member for many years, so she unconditionally provided the gang with her bank account details.
The Judiciary Police are still investigating whether Lam received any payments from the gang, according to Leng.
Lam was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office yesterday, facing a money-laundering charge.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the hooded male domestic violence suspect from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
