CRIME | Four men caught smuggling illegal immigrants from Hengqin

Early yesterday morning the Judiciary Police (PJ) apprehended four mainlanders at the Ocean Gardens residential complex in Taipa. The four suspects were accused of helping illegal migrants enter Macau by boat at night before taking them to gamble in the casinos. The gang has been operating since at least August.
According to the security authorities, the accused, heralding from Anhui province and aged between 24 to 37 years, stem from a mainland-based ring that had been smuggling mainland Chinese into the region using vessels from neighboring Hengqin Island before handing them over to the suspects to be dealt with. The handover usually occurred at the cycle lane beneath the Sai Van Bridge.
The suspects, who were paid RMB500 per immigrant, would subsequently hail local taxis for the new arrivals, to transport them to their destinations. Each journey cost the migrants between RMB6,000 and RMB8,000.
The PJ investigators took action at around 12 a.m. and arrested two of the suspects at the Ocean Gardens complex, together with another five male illegal entrants aged between 30 to 40, four of whom had just arrived while another one was ready to depart the city at the time of the arrest.
The investigator later apprehended the other two suspects at the Edificio Man Fai residential building on the same night. The initial inquiry suggests that the operation has been running for two months, with around five to ten mainland Chinese having entered the region with assistance from the group. The ongoing probe currently being conducted by authorities aims to identify the mainland mastermind behind the illegal operation.