Crime | Forbidden weapons found in tourists’ bags at airport

Macau airport

Two tourists, one from Indonesia and one from Thailand, were found to possess in possession with forbidden weapons in their luggage while boarding international flights, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) informed at a press conference.

Both cases occurred on September 17 around 4.30 p.m. with just 10 minutes separating the incidents. In the first case, a security guard from the airport was processing luggage after check-in when a metal weapon known as a brass knuckle was detected. Brass knuckles are used to inflict damage when punching during a hand-to- hand fight.

The security called the PSP, that sought the luggage owner and took him to the police station for questioning.

During questioning the man, aged 40 and from Indonesia, told officers that he had bought the weapon in Hong Kong on September 9 for HKD75 and that he only had the intention to use it as a decorative item. He said he was unaware of Macau laws regarding such objects.

In a separate case, a man from Thailand in his 20s, who claimed to be a physician, was stopped by airport security after his backpack was flagged on the x-ray machine as carrying a suspicious object.

Further investigation on the bag revealed a gun bullet inside. After being taken to the police station for questioning, the man said the backpack, which he borrowed for the trip to Macau, belonged to his father.

He claimed that his father was a hobbyist shooter and possessed a license for that activity in Thailand, saying that he was unaware that the bag had any ammunition inside.

The bullet was delivered to the PSP’s Division of Guns and Ammunition and was confirmed to be perfectly operational.

The tourists were both presented to the Public Prosecutions Office yesterday, where they were charged with the possession of forbidden weapons.

In separate cases reported by the Judiciary Police (PJ) at the same press conference, there were two unusual cases of theft.

The first occurred on September 15 at around 2.30 p.m., when a local man left his bicycle unlocked, placed on top of his own motorcycle, while taking one of the bicycle wheels to a shop to fix a punctured tire.  When returning to the place where he had left it, the bicycle was gone.

The man claims to have recorded a loss of about HKD33,000.

In the other theft case, a German tourist was reported to have had his luggage stolen while transferring by shuttle bus from Taipa Ferry Terminal to his hotel in Cotai.

The man said he placed the luggage as indicated by the staff in the bus luggage compartment when boarding the bus, but when he got off the luggage was gone.  He said the luggage contained several of his possessions including an iPad worth HKD4,000 and some sunglasses also worth a similar amount.

Both cases are currently under investigation by the PJ.