The Public Security Police (PSP) have announced that last week they busted an illegal food processing “factory” in a residential flat in Taipa where they caught three mainlanders who were working there.
The three men comprise two non-resident workers and an illegal worker.
The two non-resident workers, a 30-year-old surnamed Jiang and a 34-year-old surnamed Luo, work for the same local company, while the 30-year-old illegal worker surnamed He is an overstayer.
In a regular press conference on Friday, a PSP spokesperson said that the police were still looking for the owners of the unlicensed food processing plant “with very poor hygiene” where PSP officers saw cockroaches scurrying around.
According to the spokesperson, the police busted the clandestine “food factory” on Wednesday morning after a tip-off that illegal workers were possibly working in the flat in Avenida Olímpica.
When PSP officers entered the flat, the three mainlanders were cutting live fish on chopping boards for fish cakes in the kitchen and even in the toilet, according to the spokesperson.
The two non-resident workers told the police that they had been working in the flat for three months for a monthly salary of MOP 7,000 to 8,000 (US$87–100) each. They said that they cut 300 live fish per day for fish cakes to be delivered to a number of eateries, including a barbecue restaurant, in Taipa, the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, the case involved at least two other men. One of them is a local resident surnamed Wong, while the other is his younger cousin whom the police still did not know at the time of the press conference whether he is a local resident.
Wong owns the company which hired the two non-resident workers and also a restaurant, while his cousin is the restaurant manager, according to the spokesperson, who said that the police managed to contact the two men who claimed that they were on the mainland and could not return to Macao for questioning.
The spokesperson said that the case has been transferred to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for follow-up investigation. The two non-resident workers worked in a job that they had not been hired to do.
Local employers are not allowed to order their imported staff to carry out tasks that are not part of the employee’s job description approved by the government.
The police have transferred the case to the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL), the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), the Economic Services Bureau (DSE), and the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) for their respective follow-up actions, the spokesperson said.
