Macau has seen a rise in drug abuse among youths under 21, with their officially recorded number having risen from just four in 2021 and 2022, respectively, to nine last year, Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng said on Friday.
Sit underlined that the community must not take the problem of drug abuse by youths lightly: “While the number of young people involved in drugs is still in single digits in recent years, at four in 2021 and 2022, it rose to nine last year”. He noted that the Judiciary Police investigated a total of 61 drug-related offences last year, a decrease of more than 50 percent compared with five years ago, of which only nine involved drug abuse, down by more than 95 percent compared with 2013.
According to Sit, in response to the legalisation of cannabis in some Asian countries, the Judiciary Police, last month and at the beginning of this month, have repeatedly warned of the harmful effects of cannabis and other drugs through various activities targeting fresh secondary school graduates, including students who will be going abroad for further studies. Sit noted that the number of students who have participated in the two-month PJ anti-drug campaigns so far stands at about 2,800.
Sit said that the Judiciary Police attach great importance to the problem of substance abuse by young people and will, as always, not relent in combating drug offences, adding that PJ officers have been sent to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs every year to receive the latest information on emerging narcotics and, if necessary, to carry out the corresponding procedures to ensure that local residents are protected against the harmful effects of drugs.
Sit made the remarks on the sidelines of the kick-off ceremony of the PJ Citywide Anti-Drug Week at NOVA Mall in Taipa.
In order to enhance public awareness of drug-related crimes and in response to the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking every June 26, i.e., on Wednesday this year, the Judiciary Police, through the setting-up of anti-drug information panels, are displaying drug samples and have set up game booths and are holding anti-drug quizzes to promote drug awareness and prevention among the public during their anti-drug week lasting for seven days through this coming Friday at the mall, thus promoting “good anti-drug culture” in the city.
No. of currency exchange gang members nabbed drops significantly
Concerning the ongoing crackdown on currency exchange gangs, Sit said that the Judiciary Police launched in 2018 a still ongoing crackdown on the gangs, adding that the Judiciary Police, in recent years, have also cooperated with the mainland’s public security forces to reduce the number of crimes involving illegal currency exchange activities by such gangs: “The number of currency exchange gang members intercepted in the past two months has decreased significantly”.
Sit pointed out that currency exchange gangs are a common concern of society as a whole, as their activities may lead to other crimes such as fraud, robbery and even murder and, therefore, the ID data of members of such gangs intercepted by the Judiciary Police are being sent to the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing through their cooperation mechanism for analysis, so as to identify the masterminds behind the gangs’ operations.
Even some local residents have been found in recent years to engage in illegal currency exchange deals, Sit said. He underlined that once a resident was found to be involved in illegal currency exchange deals, his or her ID data will be passed on to the relevant entities, such as the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM), to initiate administrative procedures, including the imposition of a fine.
In the first quarter of this year, among the various types of crimes committed by illegal currency exchange dealers, the most significant type was fraud, with a total of 149 cases, a year-on-year increase of 112 and 107 cases compared with the first quarters of last year and pre-pandemic 2019 respectively, with most of them mainly involving the fraudulent use of practice banknotes and remittances, followed by ruses such as delayed transfers or forged transfer certificates, according to the latest statistics released by Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak recently.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng delivers a speech during Saturday’s kick-off ceremony of the PJ Citywide Anti-Drug Week at NOVA Mall in Taipa. – Photo: PJ
