Month-long ‘Winter Operation’ from police forces finds 1,288 crime suspects

PSP observes pedestrians street and road crossing

The month-long joint operation from all security forces that took place between January 22 and February 18 resulted in finding 1,288 people suspected of committing crimes in Macau, the Unitary Police Service (SPU) announced in a statement.

According to the same statement, from those suspects, 664 were expelled from Macau while another 349 were presented to the Public Prosecutions Office to respond to accusations of several crimes.

Among the most frequent cases were fraud (72 cases), theft (45 cases), usury (35 cases) and drug-related crimes (7 cases).

In total, the SPU is said to have inspected 24,302 people in 672 police operations that mobilized over 7,000 police officers.

The SPU also reported that another 14 people were intercepted in Macau in compliance with arrest and detention warrants issued by the judicial bodies, of which three were sent to prison to serve an immediate sentence.

During the same period, 271 people were caught in activities of illegal currency exchange and two were detained in connection to loan sharking activities. Fourteen people were also detained on suspicion of crimes relating to prostitution.

Note that although prostitution is not an illegal activity under Macau laws, usually those who are caught practicing are not residents of Macau and have entered the region under a tourism visa which does not allow them to work. In most cases, these people are charged under the provisions of the laws related to illegal work.

The so-called “Winter Crime Prevention Operation” takes place every year around the Lunar New Year season and aims to prevent and tackle criminal activities during this period of peak visitation.

As part of this operation, the Customs Service (SA) launched several actions to combat smuggling, illegal immigration, and entering of counterfeit products. In cooperation with the customs services of the mainland, the SA also participated in the “Spring Joint Operation”, aiming to combat illicit trafficking activities and maintain maritime order and security.

Thirty-four patrol vessels were used in these actions and 181 people were found in smuggling attempts. They were all charged under the provisions of the “Foreign Trade Law” and a large quantity of cosmetic products, meat, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, electronic products, and endangered species of plants, among others, were seized.

PSP extends operations targeting pedestrians

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) has extended their operations on the observation of pedestrians’ street and road crossing to several areas of the city, the Times has observed in loco.

While in the past most of these operations were carried out in the area of the surroundings of the Vasco da Gama Garden and Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, in the last few days, and especially on the weekends, several of these operations specifically targeting pedestrians were undertaken in other areas such as Calçada de São João and the intersection with the Rua Formosa as well as in the area of Flora Garden in the Avenida de Sidónio Pais.

Contrary to what happened in the past when most of those caught illegally crossing the streets (avoiding the zebra crossings and pedestrian bridges, as well as under red traffic lights for pedestrians) were tourists, this time, according to the observation of the Times, most of those intercepted by the PSP were local residents and non-resident workers.

Operations of this kind are likely to continue due to the high number of this kind of incident resulting in traffic accidents, as discussed in a recent meeting of the Traffic Advisory Committee. RM