6 Vietnamese hold 2 compatriots over debts: police

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have rescued two Vietnamese from false imprisonment and arrested four Vietnamese who allegedly had held the duo against their will, PJ spokesman Leng Kam Lon said during a regular press conference on Tuesday.

The arrests and rescue operation took place on March 31.

The four suspects comprise three men and a woman, Leng said.

Leng said the victims were held against their will in a flat because they borrowed money from the suspects and could not pay back their debts. One of the victims was able to leave the flat and called the Judiciary Police after telling the suspects the purpose was to withdraw money from an ATM to repay their loans.

Leng did not disclose the genders of the two false imprisonment victims. Neither did he reveal how much money the victims had borrowed from the suspects.

The four suspects were transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigation on April 1, while thanks to CCTV footage the police later were able to track down two more Vietnamese suspects who allegedly also participated in the duo’s false imprisonment, according to Leng.

Leng said that one of the six suspects is a 35-year-old male surnamed Nguyen, an illegal immigrant who last year had been banned from entering Macau for seven years. A 30-year-old female suspect surnamed Pham told the police that she is unemployed.

PJ officers arrested Nguyen and Pham last Friday morning in a flat of a residential building in Rua de Malaca. After the arrest, police found a small amount of drugs and a machete in the flat. Nguyen admitted they were his, according to Leng.

Nguyen and Pham were transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) last Saturday for further investigation, facing a charge of false imprisonment while Nguyen also faces charges of possessing a prohibited weapon, illegal entry and illegal use of narcotics and psychotropic substances.