Four Filipinos, one of them a Hong Kong resident, have been arrested in Macau for allegedly selling drugs to their compatriots since last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Cheong Kim Fong announced during a special press conference yesterday.
The Philippine Hong Kong resident reportedly smuggled drugs regularly from Hong Kong to Macau to supply a non-resident worker (NRW), who then instructed two other Filipinos to distribute them to compatriots within the city.
According to Cheong, the Judiciary Police received a tip-off last month regarding a Filipino drug ring operating in Macau. Investigators subsequently identified the Hong Kong suspect as a 52-year-old IT technician surnamed Rosario.
PJ officers placed Rosario under surveillance after he entered Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) on Sunday morning. He travelled to the peninsula’s central district, where he met the second suspect – a 31-year-old bartender and NRW surnamed Ching – in the street.
Police intercepted the pair and seized two e-cigarette cartridges from Rosario. The cartridges, weighing a total of 12.31 grams, contained ketamine and etomidate. Officers also confiscated drug packaging materials, drug taking paraphernalia, and HK$2,800 in cash.
Etomidate is the primary active ingredient in a new illicit substance known by the street name “space oil”.
Cheong said that the police escorted Ching to his nearby home for a search. There, they seized nine bags of “ice” (methamphetamine) weighing a total of 10.01 grams, an electronic scale, and further drug taking paraphernalia. Two other Filipinos were intercepted at the flat: Ching’s 33-year-old brother, who entered Macau as a visitor, and a 39-year-old waiter and NRW surnamed Gonzales.
Following an investigation, police confirmed that Rosario had been smuggling drugs from Hong Kong since last month to supply the younger Ching, who then used the other two men to sell the drugs.
All four suspects tested positive for drugs. The total haul of 22.32 grams has an estimated street value of 31,600 patacas.
The quartet has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of drug trafficking and consumption.
Evidence seized in the drug case involving four Filipinos is displayed at the pressroom of the PJ headquarters yesterday. – Photo: PJ
