The Judiciary Police (PJ) arrested two immigration officers on Sunday for taking bribes and abetting illegal entries and exits while on duty at the Lotus Flower Bridge Cotai-Hengqin border checkpoint, a PJ spokesperson said in a special press conference yesterday.
The two officers were members of a criminal organisation, and the police believe that the gang ran the illegal entry and exit scheme for at least eight months, the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, the gang helped mainlanders barred from entering Macau to illegally enter and exit the city.
The police also arrested a 33 year-old local woman, surnamed Lei, who was also a member of the gang, the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, three men from the mainland were arrested for bribing the gang so that they could illegally enter and leave Macau. Another man from the mainland, a middleman, was arrested for taking money from mainlanders who wanted to illegally enter or leave Macau. The middleman then bribed the two suspects to allow the mainlanders to come and go as they pleased.
Lei also received money from mainlanders who intended to illegally enter or leave Macau and then bribed the two officers, according to the spokesperson.
The police are still investigating whether more suspects are involved in the case, according to the spokesperson.
The Immigration Department is run by the Public Security Police (PSP).
The spokesperson identified the two officers as a 29-year-old surnamed Ho and a 32-year-old surnamed Lei. According to the spokesperson, the two Leis are not related. The two officers joined the police in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Ho was the kingpin of the gang, the spokesperson said.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said yesterday that he was saddened by “another” case in which officers committed crimes by abusing their power, according to a statement from the Secretariat for Security (GSS) yesterday.
The statement also quoted Wong as saying that Macau’s law enforcement agencies would never tolerate any crimes committed by officers, nor any acts of indiscipline.
Wong has ordered the Public Security Police to thoroughly review the discipline supervision of its officers, the GSS statement said.
According to the spokesperson, the Judiciary Police received a tip-off in early June that a gang was aiding mainlanders to illegally enter and exit Macau through border checkpoints. After investigating, PJ officers confirmed that two immigration officers and a local woman were involved in the illegal operation.
According to the spokesperson, when mainlanders barred from entering Macau intended to illegally enter or leave the city, they would telephone Ho or the female suspect about their travel plans. Afterwards, the gang would arrange for the mainlanders to travel via the vehicle check lanes at the Lotus Flower Bridge checkpoint in Cotai when the two officers were on duty, the spokesperson said.
The gang’s “customers” paid the gang HK$10,000 to HK$30,000 each time they wanted to illegally enter or exit Macau, the spokesperson said, adding the police believe that the gang ran its illegal entry and exit scheme for at least eight months and that it had assisted to mainlanders at least 10 times illegally enter and leave the city. The gang received at least HK$300,000 in bribes, the spokesperson said.
According to spokesperson, the two officers also provided transport services in Macau for their “customers”.
In the early hours of Sunday, PJ officer arrested the two suspects when they were on duty at the Lotus Flower Bridge checkpoint. They also arrested the female suspect in her flat in Ocean Gardens in Taipa, the spokesperson said, adding that the four mainlanders were arrested in two hotels at about the same time.
The two officers and the woman confessed, the spokesperson said.
The spokesman said that the two officers and the woman would be transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for possible arraignments on charges of membership of a criminal organisation, bribe-taking, malfeasance, abuse of power, and aiding and abetting illegal immigration.
The Public Security Police said in a statement yesterday that the two officers had been suspended.
In May, three cops were arrested for operating an illegal entry and exit scheme. The trio are awaiting trial. Also in May, six rogue cops were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 21 months and 15 years for aiding and abetting illegal immigration.
Judiciary Police (PJ) officers escort the three hooded suspects to a PJ vehicle outside the PJ headquarters in Zape yesterday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
