The Judiciary Police (PJ) busted nine suspects from the mainland – one man and eight women – in Taipa and the Nam Van area for alleged membership of a criminal organisation that provided sex and drugs to clients.
A PJ spokesperson said in a press conference on Friday that officers received a tip-off a month ago about the group’s activities.
After gathering enough information and evidence, officers caught the male suspect – surnamed Chen from Hunan province who is believed to be the organisation’s leader – as he was allegedly about sell drugs.
Investigators then headed to a flat in Avenida Dom Joao IV and picked up Chen’s female partner-in-crime from the autonomous region of Guangxi, surnamed Ye.
Police seized over 30 grammes of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as Ice, two grammes of cocaine, five grammes of ketamine and 23 tablets of Magu, also known as Yaaba.
Police then went to different locations in Macau to apprehend the seven remaining suspects, who came from Hunan, Shandong and Sichuan.
The PJ spokesperson was quoted by The Macau Post Daily as saying that the seven women were sex workers with Chen and Ye acting as their pimps. The duo had allegedly run the racket for the past six months.
According to the spokesperson, the seven women were used by the suspects to provide sex and drugs to clients for prices ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 patacas per “session.”
Meanwhile, Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Va said during a press conference that there were 3,236 crimes recorded in the first quarter, amounting to a 2.7 percent year-on-year.
According to Cheong, 63 drug smuggling and trafficking cases were reported in the first quarter, a 71 percent increase on the same period of last year. Reported cases of drug abuse rose 1.4 percent to 73.(macaunews)
