The Macau Customs Service said in a statement yesterday that its officers busted an illegal immigration case in which a mainlander tried to smuggle a compatriot hidden inside a suitcase through the Barrier Gate border checkpoint on Wednesday.
The statement identified the suspected people smuggler as a 32-year-old surnamed Xiong and the illegal immigrant as a 29-year-old surnamed Fu.
According to the statement, customs officers saw Xiong acting suspiciously when he was entering Macau from Zhuhai with a suitcase at the Barrier Gate checkpoint. The officers therefore stopped him for inspection.
The customs officers opened Xiong’s suitcase and found Fu inside, the statement said.
Under questioning, the two men told customs officers that they met for the first time on the mainland a month ago. Xiong agreed to smuggle Fu into Macau, the statement said. Fu told the officers that he tried to illegally enter Macau as he was barred from entering the city after a theft case.
The Public Security Police (PSP) told the customs that Fu is barred from entering Macau for three years after he committed the theft last year, the statement said.
The statement also said that after the two men passed through the Gongbei border checkpoint, they went into the toilets at the Barrier Gate checkpoint. Xiong hid Fu in the suitcase and then tried to smuggle him into Macau.
Both men have been detained for further questioning.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Customs Service yesterday shows the suspect in the suitcase seized at the Barrier Gate border checkpoint.
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