Six and seven suspects were arrested on Wednesday in Macau and Zhuhai respectively for people-smuggling by speedboat to transport mainlanders illegally in and out of Zhuhai and Macau, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said during a special press conference yesterday.
The six male mainlanders caught in Macau include a 30-year-old security guard surnamed Li who was in charge of piloting the boat through the coastal waters, and a 24-year-old fisherman surnamed Xiang who was the skipper.
The other four suspects are a 40-year-old real estate agent surnamed Xu who had been banned from entering Macau for three years since April 6 this year due to illegal re-entry; a 32-year-old jobless man surnamed Gao who on November 21, 2017 was banned from entering Macau for five years, and on February 20, 2019 he was banned again for another six years due to overstaying, casino loansharking, and organised crime.
Xu and Gao entered Macau illegally while another two suspects who were smuggled by the gang from Macau to Zhuhai are both surnamed Gong, a 22-year-old worker and a 30-year-old jobless man.
According to Ho, the local police recently exchanged intelligence with the Zhuhai Public Security Bureau (PSB) about a people-smuggling gang that was using speedboats to transport mainlanders illegally between Zhuhai and Macau. The local police learnt that the gang would smuggle two men from the mainland to Macau and two men from Macau to Zhuhai on the return trip.
According to Ho, PJ officers discovered that two members of the gang, Li and Xiang, were on a speedboat transferring two men, Xu and Gao, to Macau on Wednesday night. After the duo dropped their two passengers ashore near Rotunda da Amizade area the two men surnamed Gong immediately boarded the speedboat and left en route back to Zhuhai.
PJ officers first arrested Xu and Gao on the waterfront, while Macau Customs Service officers intercepted the speedboat and arrested Li, Xiang and the two Gongs.
Meanwhile, Zhuhai PSB officers took action at the same time and arrested three key male members in the mainland and four other members who assisted in transporting the illegal immigrants. The seven suspects caught in Zhuhai are aged between 24 and 42, according to Ho.
Ho said the gang charged each passenger between 19,000 to 20,000 yuan (23,200 patacas to 24,400 patacas), while the skipper received between 500 and 1,500 yuan from each “client”.
The gang’s two passengers caught on Wednesday told the police that “entertainment” including casino gambling was the purpose of their illegal trips.
Li and Xiang were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of organised crime and aiding and abetting people smuggling, according to Ho.
The hooded people-smuggling suspects are escorted by Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters in Zape to a vehicle yesterday.
Photo: Iong Tat Choi
This handout photo released by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows two illegal immigrants being escorted by PJ officers ashore with Macau Customs Service officers having seized a speedboat (yellow) and holding two people smugglers and two illegal immigrants on a patrol vessel on Wednesday night.
