The Public Security Police Force (PSP) detained and ousted a total of 416 people from Macau in the period between January 3 and 31, the Unitary Police Service (SPU) revealed in a release related to the so-called “Winter Prevention Operation.”
According to the figures released, during this operation and with the participation of all police forces, including the Customs of Macao (SA), the authorities identified 62,241 people. From these, 1,186 were taken to police stations for investigation; 416 cases resulted in deportation from Macau, mostly due to overstaying.
This anti-crime operation lasted for the whole month of January and is usually conducted before and during the period of the Lunar New Year. In this iteration, the SPU mobilized a total of 7,453 police officers.
Apart from the 416 cases of expulsion from Macau, 302 others were referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for prosecution for crimes related to usury (10 people), narcotics (5 people), theft (26 people), fraud (56 people), and others.
Additionally, 95 people were intercepted and delivered to the judiciary authorities as they were escaping from arrest warrants issued by judicial bodies. In three of these cases, the people were sent immediately to the Coloane prison to serve their sentences.
The police forces also indicted 167 others for being involved in activities of illicit currency exchange, one person related to an illegal loan, and 15 people related to prostitution. While prostitution is not a crime in Macau, those that practice it are mostly tourists and it is therefore targeted as illegal.
During the same period, the SA launched several operations to combat smuggling, illegal immigration, and importing of counterfeit products in cooperation with Mainland Customs. In this operation, 433 people were caught and charged under the “Foreign Trade Law.”
These included illegal import of cosmetic products, meat, electronic products, endangered species of plants and their products, cigarettes, and alcoholic beverages, among others.
