A male taxi driver was found to have taken drugs before picking up a female passenger at the airport in Taipa for a trip to the peninsula on Saturday, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Ho Ka Kit said during a regular press conference yesterday.
The police confirmed that the cabbie in his twenties had taken Ice (methamphetamine). The passenger reported her suspicion to the police after getting out of the taxi at the destination, according to Ho.
On Saturday afternoon, the cabbie surnamed Ip picked up the woman at the airport for a trip to her home in Iao Hon district, Ho said. During the journey, the passenger saw the cabbie frequently shaking his head and rubbing his nose and heard him mumbling to himself, Ho said, adding that she suspected that the driver had taken drugs.
According to Ho, the woman reported her suspicion to the police at around 2 p.m. after getting out of the taxi near her home. PSP officers located Ip’s taxi in Cotai at around 5 p.m. on the same day.
Although Ip could answer the police’s questions, he was agitated and displayed abnormal facial expressions, Ho said, adding that the police took him to a police station for further questioning.
After Ip had passed a breathalyser test, he was taken to the public Conde de Sao Januario Hospital Centre for a drugs test, for which he tested positive for Ice, Ho said.
The police later found out that Ip has been booked three times for overcharging passengers since last year, Ho said.
During questioning, Ip admitted that he bought the drugs from a night entertainment venue on the mainland last Monday, Ho said.
Ho said that Ip has been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP), facing drug-taking and drug-driving charges.
Drug takers face a prison term of between three months and one year, according to Macau’s anti-drug law.
According to the Road Traffic Law enacted in 2007, drug-driving offenders face a prison term of up to one year. The offenders are banned from driving for between one and three years. The punishment for drug-driving is the same as the one for drink-driving, according to the Road Traffic Law.
Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Ho Ka Kit poses during yesterday’s press conference about the drug-addled cabbie. Photo: Kristy Chan
