Overall reported crime in the first half of this year recorded a 7.4 percent year-on-year increase, with drug-trafficking crimes rising 63.6 percent.
Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Va presented crime statistics for the first half of the year in a press conference Thursday in the Sao Francisco Barracks.
Security Forces Co-ordination Office Director Cheang Seng Chio and Cheong’s advisor Sam Chong Nin were also present at the conference.
According to Cheong, there were a total of 6,685 crimes during the first half of the year, a rise of 7.4 percent.
Drug-trafficking cases recorded a rise of 63.6 percent, from 66 in the first half of last year to 108 in the same period of this year. Cases of drug use also rose, from 134 to 168, a 34 percent increase.
Cheong said that there was a decline in assault cases during the first six months of the year including a 3.2 percent reduction in non-serious assaults (816 to 790) and a 14.3 percent decline in serious assaults in which there were six cases in the first half of this year.
However, there was a surge in cases of false imprisonment, up from 44 in the first half of last year to 70 in the same period of this year. Cheong said he believed that this was due to “increased activities in the gaming sector” and, according to The Macau Post Daily, he promised that the police would patrol the city’s casinos more often.
Cheong said that there were no murders or kidnappings reported during the first six months of the year.
Official data shows that there were three murders for the whole of last year and four in 2011.
Cheong said that the increase in the overall crime figures was primarily due to a rise in pick-pocketing, theft by finding and fraud. The latter recorded a 57 percent year-on-year rise from 251 reported cases in the first six months of last year to 394 in the same period this year.
Cheong also said that the increase in drug crimes was partially due to a more proactive approach by the police.
Cheong said that there was a reduction in juvenile delinquency for the first half of this year in which there were 25 cases, down from 45 cases in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Cheong said that the government would legislate as soon as possible to include five new drugs on the list of illegal drugs. He pointed out that these drugs were illegal in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland but not in Macau. He refused to disclose the names of these drugs.(macaunews)
