Crime | Driver accused of three crimes after trespassing the border

The suspect’s car being towed from the airport

The driver arrested last week for illegally bypassing the security of two border checkpoints and jumping a fence at the Macau International Airport has been accused of three crimes.

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) told the Times that the driver was a mainland Chinese male in his thirties. He has been accused of “disobedience,” “entering a place prohibited to the public” and “dangerous driving of a transport vehicle”, and was sent to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on January 2, 2018.

The Customs Service (SA) and the PSP said they had been exchanging information on the case through the “liaison mechanism with the security services of mainland China,” which notified Macau that a vehicle had passed the Hengqin border checkpoint without authorization and requested intervention.

When the communication was received, “the vehicle in question had already been able to quickly cross the gap between the barriers that separate the lanes from that border cross-point” and was already in Macau. Road traffic controls were established on three bridges in an effort to locate the vehicle, the PSP said.
The police eventually identified the vehicle through the public video surveillance system. It was spotted at 8:45 a.m. outside the upper floor of the Macau International Airport, by which time the driver had already left the scene.

“In view of this case, the SA and the PSP have already carried out […] a detailed review and have taken the necessary measures, including the extension of barriers of separation of the lanes and the installation of fences, among others, as well as improving the management work on the roads,” the PSP statement continued.

A later statement by the Office of the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak noted that “the security of the border crossing points is related to internal public security and with the [international] image of the Macau SAR. […] The security forces and services that are responsible for such work must always be attentive, reinforcing constantly the inspection and the management of their duties.”

Wong added that taking into account the “current trend” of security breach – referring specifically to terrorist attacks – the officers must “increase the capacity for prevention and contingency to respond to the different cases that may occur in order to provide Macau residents and tourists with a serious and reliable safety.”

The statement went on to add that this would safeguard “the development and stability of society” and ordered all services to improve their permanent mechanisms.

It also called for “a periodical review of the equipment and security of borders as well as other sensitive facilities, evaluating possible risks and rectifying all the flaws in order to eliminate all possible risks.”