Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference on Saturday that PJ officers have arrested three men separately in two drug-related cases and seized a total of 933.6 grammes of cocaine and 56.7 grammes of methamphetamine (aka ice), with a respective estimated street value of about 3.08 million patacas and 187,000 patacas.
The three suspects, comprising a Brazilian and two mainlanders, were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing respective drug-trafficking and drug-abuse charges, according to Lei.
Brazilian drug mule ‘hired’ to smuggle 89 cocaine pellets
Lei said that upon receiving intelligence that international drug gangs had recently recruited people from different ethnicities to smuggle drugs from Europe to Macau by air, PJ officers identified and put a Brazilian male passenger who was on a flight arriving from Europe to Macau via Singapore last Monday under surveillance, and arrested him upon arrival at the local airport.
Lei pointed out that as a number of “goose egg-like objects” in his body was discovered through X-ray, the suspect in his thirties, surnamed Olímpio Filho, was taken to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre to undergo a more detailed X-ray examination. He soon excreted 89 cocaine-filled pellets, totalling 933.6 grammes.
Under questioning, Olímpio Filho, who told the police that he’s unemployed, said that he had been “hired by someone” to swallow the pellets in Paris on October 29 and take a flight to Macau via Singapore, adding that he had been promised payment of 10,000 Brazilian reais (US$2,040) and US$900 (around 23,500 patacas in total).
2 mainlanders caught red-handed
Meanwhile, two mainlanders were caught red-handed on Saturday during a drug deal in Taipa, involving 56.7 grammes of ice, Lei said.
Upon receiving intelligence that members of a criminal gang were smuggling drugs from the mainland to Macau to sell, according to Lei, PJ officers identified the suspect, surnamed Tang, as one of the gang members.
Lei said that after arriving in Macau on Saturday afternoon via the Barrier Gate border checkpoint, Tang checked into a hotel in Zape and then met the other suspect, surnamed Liu, in Taipa.
Lei pointed out that during the operation, PJ officers found three packets of ice, weighing about 1.8 grammes in total, on Tang, and 83 packets of 54.3 grammes of ice hidden in a pair of underpants in his hotel room. Lei added that PJ officers seized a small packet of ice, weighing about 0.6 grammes, from the 36-year-old Liu.
Under questioning, the 33-year-old Tang admitted to buying the drugs for about 36,000 yuan in a neighbouring city and was planning to sell the packets of drugs for 4,000 patacas each in Macau, according to Lei, who pointed out that the two suspects, who are both jobless, tested positive for drugs.
The three hooded male drug suspects – a Brazilian (photo on the left) and two mainlanders – are separately escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a PJ vehicle on Saturday. – Both photos courtesy of TDM
