A 17-year-old Hong Kong male and a 35-year-old local man were caught red-handed on Thursday evening in the middle of a cocaine deal in Nam Van, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference on Friday.
In the operation, Leng added, the Judiciary Police seized 21.31 grammes of cocaine and 9.46 grammes of ketamine, with an estimated street value of 80,000 patacas, as well as a number of small plastic bags and an electronic scale.
According to Leng, the Hong Kong jobless suspect is surnamed Ho, while the local suspect, who works as an engineering apprentice, is surnamed Lai.
Leng said that based on intelligence the Judiciary Police had received, a Hong Kong drug gang was using minors to sell drugs in Macau. PJ officers then identified Ho as the suspect and set up surveillance on Thursday afternoon at a hotel in Zape, where Ho was staying.
According to Leng, the officers saw Ho leave the hotel on foot for a secluded location in Nam Van at 8:30 p.m. that day, and later discovered that Ho was about to strike a drug deal with Lai, so they arrested the duo on the spot.
Realising that the police were moving in, Lai immediately dropped a tissue on the ground, in which the officers found two small bags of cocaine weighing 1.8 grammes in total, according to Leng.
Under questioning, Ho admitted that he was hired by a gang to bring the drugs to Macau and sell them in the city’s nightclubs, adding that he could earn one to two percent of the drug money for every gramme of drugs sold, according to Leng.
Leng pointed out that Ho tested positive for the drug, while Lai tested negative.
Ho and Lai were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, where Ho and Lai face drug-trafficking charges, Leng said, adding that Ho also faces a drug-taking charge.
Macau’s age of criminal responsibility stands at 16.
Evidence seized from the drug suspects, such as cocaine, ketamine, packaging tools and 5,000 patacas and HK$500 in cash, is being displayed during Friday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
