Crime | Taiwanese tourist detained at airport for possession of illegal weapons

A tourist from Taiwan was detained at the Macau International Airport on Saturday after airport security found that he was carrying several forbidden weapons within his luggage, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) reported during a press conference this week.

Two Taser weapons, two extendable bats and two bottles of pepper spray were found inside the luggage the man was trying to pass through security.

Questioned by the PSP, the man, aged 56, claimed to have bought the items at Gongbei, Zhuhai, for RMB800 on March 22, and brought them into Macau by the Border Gate border checkpoint.

He also said that he had the intention of giving them to his wife and daughter for self-defense purposes.

In a separate case, the PSP also reported that they caught two individuals suspected of theft, who were operating as pickpockets in the area in between Senado Square and the Saint Paul’s Ruins.

Officers in patrol spotted the two suspects with suspicious behavior as they were targeting tourists in that area. Later, they were spotted trying to steal a wallet from a backpack in a shop.

After several unsuccessful attempts which were witnessed by the officers, the two men moved in the direction of the Grand Lisboa hotel where the men noticed they were being followed by the police and attempted to get into a taxi to flee.

The police detained them, upon which it was revealed that the men were from mainland China, aged 43 and 50. The men did not provide a Macau entry immigration form, a fact which led the police to suspect that they entered the region illegally.

In their possession the police also found two mobile phones that they admitted to have stolen from a tourist.

They were both presented to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) where they were charged with theft.

Accused of a similar crime were two Mongolian nationals who were reported by a victim who claimed to have had her phone stolen.

When stopped by the police, the two men were found to be carrying two mobile phones in a bag that the suspects said did not result from theft, but that they could not access due to not knowing the passcode.

The police then called one of the victims to the police station who recognized the phone as hers and managed to open it using her passcode.

The Mongolian nationals were operating with the help of a third person, a 50-year-old woman also from Mongolia, who is being charged as an accomplice to the crimes. RM