Two men and a woman from Tanzania were arrested near a residential building in the city centre on Wednesday night for selling and taking crack cocaine in the district’s nightclubs, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference yesterday, adding that in the operation the police seized a total of 8.38 grammes of cocaine and 1.05 grammes of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of about 100,000 patacas.
The Judiciary Police received intelligence about a week ago, indicating that African nationals were selling “processed” cocaine at nightclubs in the city centre, Lei said, adding that after identifying the three suspects, PJ officers put them under surveillance and arrested them at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to Lei, the police found 1.05 grammes of crack cocaine on the three suspects when they were arrested, as well as 8.38 grammes of cocaine, drug processing ingredients such as baking soda, drug packaging tools and about 60,000 patacas in drug proceeds in a bedroom they rented in a flat in a residential building in the city centre.
Lei noted that the two males and the female who are surnamed Soroka, Adam and Maeda have been in Macau for about a week, a month and two days respectively.
Under questioning, the trio in their thirties told the police that they processed cocaine that they had bought from an African drug dealer into crack cocaine in their rented bedroom before selling it, according to Lei.
The trio, who told the police that they are businesspeople, refused to reveal how long they had engaged in drug trafficking in Macau, but the police believe that they had been dealing drugs in the city for about a month, Lei said.
The trio were sent for a urine drug test, the results of which showed Soroka and Adam tested positive, while Maeda tested negative.
The three suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of drug trafficking and drug taking, according to Lei, who said that the Judiciary Police were continuing their manhunt for the African drug dealer who allegedly sold the cocaine to the trio.
The three hooded drug suspects from Tanzania are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a PJ vehicle yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
