The Judiciary Police (PJ) deported 36 mainlanders involved in illegal currency exchange activities in Macau to the Zhuhai police yesterday evening.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Deputy Director Sou Sio Keong briefed reporters about the case after the transfer of the illegal currency exchange dealers in the area between Zhuhai’s Gongbei and Macau’s Barrier Gate border checkpoints.
Sou noted that the 36 unlicensed dealers comprise 26 males and 10 females. One of the men was a non-resident worker who worked as a waiter in Macau. Sou added that the local police suspect that the non-resident worker illegally engaged in currency exchange activities in Macau using his purported employment as a guise.
According to Sou, the Ministry of Public Security announced a crackdown on money exchange syndicates in May. After sorting and analysing the data, Sou noted, gangs involved in illegal currency activities in the mainland and Macau were identified and the Judiciary Police were informed.
Sou noted that the Judiciary Police dispatched 180 officers at 6 a.m. yesterday to various hotels and residential units in different areas in Macau, especially in Cotai, where they apprehended 36 targeted mainlanders.
The operation resulted in the seizure of approximately HK$1.8 million in cash and over HK$600,000 in gambling chips.
Sou underlined that the extensive operation conducted yesterday was not a direct response to last week’s local murder case. In that incident, a mainlander allegedly killed and robbed a Hong Kong man in a Cotai hotel guestroom. Both the suspect and the victim were involved in illegal currency exchange activities.
Sou noted that the local and mainland law enforcement authorities have consistently maintained close communication and cooperation, and that they will intensify intelligence sharing and take timely joint actions to combat cross-regional crimes.
Last Friday, legislator Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who heads a Legislative Assembly committee examining a government-drafted bill aimed at combating gambling-related crimes, announced that the bill has been amended by the government in order to criminalise illicit money exchanges occurring on casino and other gaming industry-related premises.
Chan also pointed out that the proposed amendment widens the bill’s scope by encompassing auxiliary facilities primarily used for gambling operations, along with other facilities dedicated to artistic, recreational, business or hotel-related activities.
He noted that under the proposed amendment to the bill, the maximum prison sentence for currency exchange violations would be five years. Convicts also face exclusion from entering casinos for a period ranging from two to 10 years.
However, individuals using illegal currency exchange services would not be subject to punishment, according to the amended. bill.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Deputy Director Sou Sio Keong (centre) shakes hands with a mainland Public Security Bureau officer after the transfer process.
The 36 mainland illegal money exchange dealers are being transferred to the mainland authorities in the area between Zhuhai’s Gongbei and Macau’s Barrier Gate border checkpoints yesterday. – Photos: William Chan
