A joint operation by the Judiciary Police (PJ) and Macau Customs Service detected the first drug-trafficking case involving a wooden motor boat in Macau and arrested four men and one woman on Sunday, PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a special press conference yesterday.
According to Leng, a total of 2.92 grammes of cocaine, 1.6 grammes of marijuana, 0.55 grammes of methamphetamine and 0.4 grammes of heroin were seized in the operation, with an estimated street value of about 11,000 patacas. The operation also confiscated 16,000 patacas, HK$600 and 6,900 yuan (7,740 patacas) of suspected drug money.
The five suspects include two local 24-year-old men, an electrician surnamed Choi and jobless resident surnamed Wong. The third suspect is a 35-year-old boatman from the mainland surnamed Zheng. The fourth suspect is a 26-year-old jobless female illegal immigrant from Vietnam surnamed Mai. The fifth suspect is a 26-year-old Vietnamese male overstayer surnamed Nguyen. The police did not say whether he has a job in Macau.
According to Leng, customs officers reported to the police on Saturday afternoon that they saw a suspicious wooden motor boat close to the shoreline via CCTV footage from Avenida dos Jogos da Ásia Oriental near the Sai Van Bridge cycling track in Taipa. The footage showed a man throwing a bag on to the shore near an angling area. The bag was later picked up by a man dressed in black.
The customs officers intercepted Choi and Zheng on the wooden motor boat near the waterfront on Saturday and transferred them to the police for follow-up investigation. Under questioning, Zheng confessed that he was paid 1,000 yuan per trip by a man in the mainland who told him to pick up Choi.
Choi told the police that he was paid 5,000 yuan by a drug trafficking gang in the mainland to smuggle a bag containing some “contraband” and to hurl it onto the land once the boat got close to the waterfront, according to Leng.
Evidence seized from the suspects such as drugs, smartphones, Hong Kong dollar, yuan and pataca notes are displayed during yesterday’s special press conference about the wooden motor boat smuggling case at the pressroom of the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters. Photos: Iong Tat Choi
Four of the five hooded suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
‘Man in black’
Leng said the police tracked down the man dressed in black (Wong) on Saturday through the CCTV and other video footage. Wong took a taxi from the waterfront to a building in Seac Pai Van where he stayed for a short time before catching a bus to return to the cycling track near Sai Van Bridge. He then rode a motorcycle to go to the leisure area near Rua do Mercado de Iao Hon where he vanished.
According to Leng, the police discovered that the motorcycle was parked near a building in Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo on Sunday afternoon and intercepted Wong when he appeared in Rua dos Mercadores in the evening. The police seized 10 small packets of drugs which contained 2.92 grammes of cocaine and 1.6 grammes of cannabis. Wong refused to cooperate with the police, Leng said.
Leng said the police caught a man and a woman – both from Vietnam – later on Sunday in a building in Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo and seized 0.4 grammes of heroin and other drugs that were hidden in the power box of the building. The Vietnamese man did not have any contraband on him but admitted that he bought drugs from Wong. A packet of methamphetamine, weighing 0.55 grammes, was seized from the Vietnamese woman who refused to reveal where the drugs came from.
The suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) yesterday for further investigation. While Choi, Wong and Zheng face charges of trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances, Mai and Nguyen face charges of illegal use of narcotics and psychotropic substances, according to Leng.
