The police have cracked another drug trafficking case in which the suspects are Hong Kong residents, and this time, the duo are aged just 16 and 19, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said during a special press conference yesterday.
This is the third drug-trafficking case in 10 days the local police have busted that involves Hong Kong residents.
The latest case saw the two young Hongkongers arrested in Taipa early yesterday morning for working for a Hong Kong drug-trafficking gang to sell cocaine at Macau’s night entertainment venues.
Police seized a total of 12.64 grammes of cocaine with a black market value of 38,000 patacas and suspected drug money of the equivalent of more than 18,000 patacas in various currencies.
The two suspects are a 19-year-old male surnamed Lee who told police that he’s unemployed, and a 16-year-old female surnamed Yip, a school dropout.
Lei said that after the Judiciary Police received a tip-off, the police tracked down the pair on Wednesday in Taipa and put them under surveillance until the early hours of yesterday when police officers saw the couple hovering around Rua de Nam Keng and eventually stopping in front of a building.
The duo split up with Yip appearing to act as a look-out for Lee. The police then intercepted the two suspects and on frisking them seized nine packets of cocaine weighing 2.85 grammes hidden in Lee’s shoes and his trouser pockets.
The police detained the pair and searched the hotel guestroom where they were staying in the city centre and found 28 packets of cocaine weighing 9.79 grammes. Under questioning, Lee confessed that he has been taking cocaine and also has debts in Hong Kong. Therefore, he joined a Hong Kong drug-trafficking gang to sell drugs in Macau for which he was paid HK$1,500 a day. The kingpin sent Lee text messages to instruct him where to collect the drugs and settle the deal with buyers, according to Lei.
Lei said that Lee had sold 110 packets of cocaine for HK$1,000 per packet, earning some HK$40,000 for the gang. Yip confessed that she has a ketamine habit and claimed that she merely accompanied her boyfriend to Macau to sell drugs by assisting him as a look-out during his drug deals. She also told the police that she had not been paid by the gang.
Upon investigation, the police confirmed that the pair had been selling drugs in Macau since Monday. The police seized a total of 37 packets of cocaine, HK$17,100 and 1,500 patacas in cash, according to Lei.
The suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) yesterday afternoon for further questioning, both facing drug-trafficking charges.
The age of criminal responsibility in Macau is 16 years old.
The hooded suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
