A man from the mainland has been arrested for aiding and abetting illegal immigration, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Leong Chi Seng said during a regular press conference yesterday.
Leong identified the suspect as a man surnamed Zhang, who told the police he’s jobless. The illegal immigrant is a construction worker surnamed Liu from the mainland. Zhang and Liu are in their twenties.
According to Leong, the Public Security Police received information from the Macau Customs Service on Monday saying that customs officers found clothes and swimming gear scattered on a beach in Estrada da Aldeia in Coloane early that morning, raising suspicions of an illegal entry into Macau through swimming.
After scrutinising their citywide CCTV surveillance system, the police identified the illegal immigrant as Liu and later found him staying in a hotel in Cotai, in a room registered in Zhang’s name. Liu and Zhang were then apprehended in the hotel.
Liu told the police that he had been barred from entering Macau since last October due to a previous theft conviction. He told the police that he had illegally entered Macau with the intention of working as an illegal money exchange dealer, and that he had arranged to stay in a hotel room by paying Zhang 180 patacas. He had met Zhang through social media prior to their deal.
Zhang has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing a charge of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, Chong said.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows evidence such as the swiming gear used by the illegal immigrant from the mainland.
