HONG KONG: Macau police raided casinos and hotels in an operation with Chinese and Hong Kong authorities after a series of murders and attacks targeting guests.
Police questioned nearly 1,300 people and detained 149 of them for further investigation as part of an operation codenamed “Thunderbolt,” according to a statement from the Unitary Police Service of Macau sent via mobile text message.
The crackdown on violent crime is a reminder of the deadly gang wars in Macau in the late 1990s, toward the end of Portuguese colonial rule. Criminal groups known as triads fought for control of casino VIP rooms and loan-sharking operations resulting in the deaths of 40 people in shootouts. The jailed leader of the 14K triad, ’Broken Tooth’ Wan Kuok-koi, is near the end of his prison term after being sentenced to 15 years in 1999.
“Crime comes inevitably with casinos,” Macau lawmaker Au Kam-sun said in a telephone interview. “The police make a clean-up every now-and-then to keep the triads in check.”
Macau police arrested 17 people on Aug. 2 for cheating in three of the city’s casinos. Those detained were involved in a scheme where casino dealers took bribes and used tiny cameras to take images of cards on baccarat tables, Macau’s Judiciary Police spokesman Chan Kin-hong said by telephone.
The case involved HK$90 million ($11.6 million) and took place at three casinos in Macau city and Cotai Strip, including those run by U.S. casino operators, Chan said, without specifying the names of the casinos.
Hong Kong Arrests
Hong Kong police arrested 130 people and seized HK$8 million in cash and property in anti-triad raids to combat money laundering on Aug. 2, as part of the “Thunderbolt” operation with the Macau and Guangdong law enforcement agencies.
Officers seized HK$3.4 million in various currencies, 11 watches and two cars and said those arrested were allegedly involved in money laundering, operating illegal gambling establishments, and other triad-related offenses.
Ng Man-sun, who has a controlling stake in Amax Holdings Ltd., was beaten in a restaurant at a casino that is operated by his company, the New York Times reported on June 28.
Macau New Century Hotel stopped accepting guests after the assault because “certain unidentified persons” had been staying there for a long time, the South China Morning Post reported on July 3.
Ng, also known by his nickname “Market Wai,” requested to remove eight out of the nine existing directors of the Amax board, to be replaced by five new directors, according to a company statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on July 16.
The attack on Ng was followed by the killing of a Chinese woman in a residential neighborhood near the Venetian Macau casino, and the murder of two men at the Grand Lapa Hotel, which is operated by Mandarin Oriental International Ltd., according to the Hong Kong-based Morning Post. (Bloomberg/aph)
Showing 0 - 0 of 0 comments