The Judiciary Police (PJ), in conjunction with the Macau Customs Service (SA), busted a criminal gang posting a parcel containing 30.7 grams of cocaine from Southeast Asia to Macau, in which a Filipino, a non-resident worker (NRW), was caught collecting the drug parcel at a pick-up point in the city centre on Tuesday evening, PJ spokesman Cheong Kim Fong said yesterday.
According to Cheong, who hosted a special press conference yesterday, the male suspect, 38, is surnamed Refugia. The suspect, who told the police that he works as a freight forwarding clerk, was transferred the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, where he faces charges of drug trafficking and drug manufacturing.
In the operation, Cheong noted, PJ officers found 30.7 grams of cocaine in the parcel which Refugia had picked up, as well as 15.6 grams of methamphetamine (aka ice) from his home in the northern district, totalling an estimated street value of 400,000 patacas. The officers also seized some drug taking paraphernalia, a weighing scale, and a stove suspected of being used to process the cocaine into crack cocaine.
The Judiciary Police had recently received intelligence that a drug gang would send a parcel from overseas to Macau with drugs hidden in it, after which, with the assistance of the Macau Customs Service, the Judiciary Police identified the drug parcel and its addressee, Cheong said, adding that the cocaine was hidden inside three handbags in the parcel.
Under questioning, Refugia admitted that he was instructed by his handler to pick up the package and to manufacture crack cocaine before selling it, adding that he could receive 500 patacas after each collection and manufacturing process.
Cheong said that each gram of cocaine could be processed to obtain three to four times the amount of crack cocaine, adding that since the suspect wasrefusing to reveal more details about his crimes, at the time of the press conference the Judiciary Police were still trying to track down details such as the source, the sale, and the method of trafficking the drugs.
Evidence, including handbags and a stove, as well as ice and cocaine, is displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
