The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted a prostitution ring and arrested 26 people on Thursday, including three active-duty officers of the Public Security Police (PSP) and two retired PJ officers, PJ spokesman Ho Ka Weng announced during a special press conference at PJ headquarters on Friday morning.
According to a PJ statement released after the press conference on Friday afternoon, the 26 suspects comprise 18 local residents, six from the Chinese mainland and two from Hong Kong, aged between 39 and 68. The group includes 24 men and two women.
The statement also noted that the suspects include three PSP officers, aged between 51 and 60, surnamed Chan, Sou and Leong, and two retired male PJ officers surnamed Kam and Ieong, aged 58 and 65, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) announced in a statement yesterday evening that the three PSP officers involved in the case, include a PSP deputy commissioner surnamed Leong, and an acting division chief surnamed Sou.
Ho revealed during Friday’s press conference that the Judiciary Police received intelligence in 2019 indicating that a criminal syndicate was engaging in prostitution activities under the guise of operating saunas.
“Sauna” is a customary euphemism in Macau for venues that offer commercial sex.
Following several years of in-depth investigation, Ho added, PJ officers discovered that three saunas were under the control of three separate criminal organisations. Ho said that the saunas offered services such as “spa treatments” and different kinds of “massage” as a cover, while they arranged for women to provide sexual services.
A price list displayed at the press conference capped the highest “massage” price at 8,899 patacas.
Ho noted that the price per session ranged from approximately 2,000 to 8,000 patacas, with the women involved earning between 1,000 and 2,000 patacas per session. On their price lists, the saunas listed “ratings” and “standards” based on the women’s nationalities – recruited from Asia and Eastern Europe – and the kinds of service provided.
Ho also said that, in addition to the core suspects, a total of 381 people were taken to police stations for questioning during the operation.
PJ officers also seized a raft of account books, price lists, and a large quantity of sex-work paraphernalia during the raids, including pink S&M* implements displayed during the press conference.
Ho pointed out that during the investigation, the criminal syndicates demonstrated a high level of counter-surveillance awareness due to the involvement of police personnel. Whenever the implicated law enforcement officers – both those still on active duty and those already retired – received news of upcoming inspections or became aware that an investigation involved any of the three saunas, they would tip off the syndicates via secret communication methods to help conceal their criminal activities, Ho said.
In return, according to the press conference, the five current and former law enforcement officers regularly accepted bribes. The three criminal syndicates each paid bribes totalling about 150,000 to 200,000 patacas per month to the three implicated PSP officers, Ho said, adding that the two retired PJ officers each received no less than 140,000 patacas in bribes every month.
The three criminal syndicates had been operating since 2019, Ho said, adding that their total illegal proceeds are estimated to amount to 240 million, 230 million and 320 million patacas, respectively – totalling 790 million patacas.
The Judiciary Police took action on Thursday, raiding the three saunas, five offices, and 23 other locations linked to the case. A large quantity of operational items was seized, including condoms, lubricants, account books, computers and price lists for sexual services. A total of about 50 million patacas in cash was seized.
The 26 suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing charges including organised crime, bribe-taking, exploitation of prostitutes, according to the PJ press conference.
12 remanded in custody, 14 released
According to yesterday’s MP statement, the 26 suspects have meanwhile been accused of organised crime involvement, money laundering and the crime of “personal favouritism practised by a civil servant” (Article 332 of the Macau Penal Code).
The statement noted 12 suspects have been remanded in custody, including the three suspects from the Public Security Police, a Hong Kong co-owner of one of the saunas, two businessmen from the Chinese mainland and a local housewife
The remaining 14 suspects were released in accordance with legally mandated coercive procedures, including the two retired PJ officers.
On Friday, the Public Security Police said in a statement that the three PSP officers allegedly involved in the case had been preventively suspended from duty and that disciplinary proceedings had been launched immediately.
Meanwhile, the Judiciary Police said in a statement on Friday that they would “not tolerate any illegal acts” by their officers, adding that heads of units had been instructed to launch a “full revision of all internal supervision and management mechanisms” in order to “identify gaps” and prevent “the occurrence of similar situations”.
*S&M (Sadomasochism) encompasses a wide array of toys, restraints, and implements designed for consensual impact play, sensory deprivation, and bondage. These items are categorised by the sensations and experiences they are meant to create. - Gemini
Evidence, including a set of S&M (sadism and masochism) props about the case seized by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers on Thursday, is displayed at PJ headquarters in Zape, during Friday’s press conference.
PJ officers escort the 26 hooded suspects to PJ vans outside the PJ headquarters on Friday. – Photos: Armindo Neves
