The Public Security Police (PSP) arrested five mainland men on Tuesday for stealing seven items of clothing worth a total of 4,100 patacas from a shop on Rua da Ponte Negra in Taipa, and on the same day busted an illegal inn on Rua de Paris in Nape, where the quintet were staying and were nabbed, a PSP spokesperson said during a regular press conference on Friday.
A 36-year-old mainland man surnamed Yao was arrested on Tuesday for running the illegal inn, the spokesperson added.
According to the spokesperson, the quintet who are aged between 40 and 60, as well as Yao, all hold mainland travel permits.
The spokesperson said that the Public Security Police received a report from the shop on Tuesday afternoon that as its staff had found six broken anti-theft tags on the floor of the shop’s fitting room, they counted the stock and discovered that seven items of clothing had been stolen, reporting a loss of 4,100 patacas.
After identifying the quintet through the city’s CCTV surveillance system and the shop’s CCTV footage, PSP officers arrested them and recovered the stolen goods in a four-bedroom flat in Nape at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when the officers discovered that the flat where the quintet were staying was occupied by multiple people, according to the spokesperson.
The spokesperson pointed out that apart from the quintet, there were also five other tenants – four males and one female – in the flat, with one of them an overstayer.
Under questioning, according to the spokesperson, Yao admitted that he was entrusted by a woman to run the illegal inn and collect a daily rent of 600 patacas for a large bedroom, 400 patacas for a small bedroom and 100 patacas for sleeping in the living room. Yao insisted he did not know that one of the tenants was an overstayer.
The quintet and Yao have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), where Yao faces a charge of aiding and abetting an overstayer, while the quintet face theft charges, the spokesperson said, adding that the case has been reported to the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) for follow up.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) during Friday’s regular press conference shows PSP officers escorting the five mainland theft suspects to a PSP vehicle.
