Briefs | Two PSP officers arrested for smuggling

Two police officers have been arrested for assisting persons banned from entering Macau with entry into the territory. The implicated officers were working for the Public Security Police Force’s immigration department at  Cotai’s border checkpoints. The main culprit and mastermind is allegedly a 29-year-old officer who began serving the city’s police force in 2009, while the second officer has served the PSP since 2011. The case was first reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) at the beginning of June, when the PJ discovered smuggling groups entering and leaving Macau from Cotai’s border checkpoints. The operations lasted a minimum of eight months, with the officers smuggling at least ten people in and out of Macau. The two officers received between HKD10,000 and HKD30,000 each time a smuggling operation was successfully undertaken.

Suspected arson burnt seven motorbikes

Early Sunday morning, a suspected arson attack occurred at Iao Han district, resulting in seven burnt motorbikes. Parts of a van parked near to the motorbikes, the outdoor unit of an air conditioner, and a nearby shop’s gate were also burnt, along with two bunk beds and some belongings in a flat on the second floor of a nearby building. The Fire Service is treating the fire as suspicious and has forwarded the case to the Judiciary Police, stating that they suspect someone was responsible for the incident. Rates of arson dramatically increased last year, with the number of cases in the 12-month period ending May 2017 150 percent higher than in the previous period ending May 2016.