The Judiciary Police (PJ) separately arrested a local man and a Filipino for drug-trafficking and drug-taking on Thursday, PJ spokesman Chao Teng Hin and Narcotics Division Supervisor Angel Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference on Friday.
Chao identified the suspects as a 20-year-old local hairdresser surnamed Tam and a 37-year-old non-resident-worker (NRW) from the Philippines surnamed Caparas.
According to Lei, in order to strengthen the ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking in local neighbourhoods and prevent youth drug abuse, PJ officers have intensified patrols in local communities. An investigation revealed that since the beginning of this year, Tam had targeted outdoor sports grounds in the city centre at night to “befriend” teenagers.
After gaining their trust, Lei said that Tam lured at least two minors to the hair salon where he works under the pretext of giving them a haircut. There, he provided them with free e-cigarettes laced with drugs. Once the victims became addicted, he began selling them drugs for profit, Lei said.
Lei said that PJ officers arrested Tam at his workplace at around 5 p.m. on Thursday. During a subsequent search of his home, PJ officers discovered a plastic bottle with traces of vape juice, which Tam admitted buying from Caparas. At 9 p.m. the same day, Caparas was arrested in the city centre.
According to Lei, PJ officers seized 16 plastic bottles containing vape juice from Caparas and from his home, which were later confirmed to contain synthetic cannabinoids. The total weight exceeded 270 grams, with an estimated street value of approximately 40,000 patacas.
Following further investigation, according to Lei, Tam confessed to purchasing the drugs from Caparas at a price of 1,500 patacas per bottle. Apart from using a portion himself, he would repackage the remainder into e-cigarette cartridges and resell them to adolescents at 500 patacas per e-cigarette.
Lei said that each bottle of vape juice, also known as e-liquid, could fill five cartridges, with one cartridge sufficient for a day’s use. Police believe that Tam began drug trafficking early this year and made multiple purchases from Caparas, according to Lei.
At the time of the press conference, PJ officers were still investigating the source of the drugs and identifying other potential targets of the trafficking network.
Both have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for further investigation, both facing drug-trafficking and drug-taking charges.
Evidence seized from the two drug suspects, surnamed Tam and Caparas, is displayed during Friday's special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape. – Photo: Armindo Neves
