Hotel staff tip-off leads to drug bust involving couple

The Judiciary Police (PJ) have arrested a Hong Kong couple on charges of drug trafficking, drug use, and improper possession of utensils or equipment, seizing 34.25 grams of cocaine with an estimated street value of MOP68,500.

The arrested individuals are a 68-year-old man surnamed Li, who claims to be a cleaner, and a 59-year-old woman surnamed Lu, who claims to be unemployed.

According to case details, at approximately 4 p.m. on May 7, the PJ received a report from staff at a hotel in the ZAPE district. Hotel employees had observed the man and woman behaving suspiciously on the premises and alerted police through the established reporting channel.

Officers intercepted the pair at the hotel. A search of Li uncovered three packets of suspected cocaine, along with HKD83,300 believed to be proceeds from drug transactions. A subsequent search of the hotel room where the couple was staying revealed three additional packets of suspected cocaine, as well as drug paraphernalia including glass containers, glass tubes, and lighters.

During the investigation, both individuals admitted to having a history of drug use. They had entered Macau on the morning of their arrest via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) border checkpoint and had used drugs inside their hotel room. Urine test results for both came back positive for drugs.

The PJ will conduct further investigations into the source of the drugs and the individuals to whom they were being sold.