Macau's number of reported crimes dropped 1.3 percent to 14,178 last year, the Secretariat for Security headed by Wong Sio Chak said today.
According to a statement by the secretariat, Macau's public security situation remained stable overall last year.
However, the statement pointed out that the number of violent crimes rose 4.7 percent to 673, due to an increase in false imprisonment, robbery and rape cases in particular.
Last year, 1,016 illegal immigrants (IIs) were rounded up, 202 more than in 2018, with mainlanders accounting for 87.5 percent of the total. The remainder came from other regions and countries.
The number of overstayers caught by the police rose 4.1 percent to 28,711 last year.
A total of 60 youth delinquency cases were reported last year, involving 90 minors. Both numbers remained almost unchanged year-on-year.
Macau's various law enforcement agencies transferred 6,656 individuals to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) last year, a 7 percent increase year-on-year.
A total of 3,172 offences related to the taxi sector were recorded last year, a "significant" decrease of 48.2 percent compared to 2018, the statement pointed out.
Two homicides were recorded last year.
The number of reported false imprisonment cases rose 8 percent year-on-year to 353 last year. According to the statement, most of the cases involved loan-sharking gangs.
The number of robberies rose 15.9 percent to 80 cases, 31 cases of which occurred on hotel premises, 71 percent of them involving illegal currency exchange activities.
The number of reported cybercrime cases fell 29.9 percent to 270 last year. The statement underlined that in spite of the decrease in reported cases, this kind of crime continued to be a "great threat" to people's assets and security.
