Joint operation to combat organised crime
In support of a special operation codenamed "Thunderbolt 07" jointly conducted by the Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau Police authorities, the Hong Kong Police mounted a series of operations to combat organised crime between June 1 and 23.
The Chief Superintendent of Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB), Mr Choy Kin-cheung, said at a press conference today (June 25) that the focus of "Thunderbolt 07" was on intelligence-led enforcement operations. With the close co-operation and effective exchange of intelligence among the Hong Kong Police and their counterparts, the operation was completed successfully and gave a severe blow to triad and organised crimes.
During the 23-day operation, the enforcement officers raided about 3 119 locations including discos, games centres, massage establishments and residential units, resulting in the smashing of 37 vice establishments, 19 gambling dens and two smoking divans. A total of 1 588 persons, including 1 001 men and 587 women were arrested. Among the arrestees, there were 364 Two-way Permit holders (61 men and 303 women) and 42 illegal immigrants (17 men and 25 women).
In the operation, the officers seized about 200 kg of cannabis, 3 kg of ketamine, 2 kg of cocaine, 520 grams of heroin, 510 grams of "Ice", and 6 400 tablets of psychotropic drugs. In addition, 68 pieces of offensive weapons including 31 knives were seized.
About 100 000 obscene or pirated optical discs, 25 000 litres of illicit oil, 82 000 sticks of dutiable cigarettes and more than 1 300 faked goods were found by the officers. In addition, about $3 million worth of betting slips and betting chips suspected to be connected with illegal gambling were also seized.
Turning to the details of the operation, Mr Choy also highlighted an anti-vice covert operation codenamed "Bayshelter" against a number of local vice syndicates suspected of luring local girls to provide sex services in overseas countries.
Following extensive investigations, Police identified six local vice syndicates believed to have close connection with a number of overseas vice syndicates. The local syndicates were suspected of arranging local girls for prostitution in various countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.
Investigation revealed that the Hong Kong syndicates had arranged accommodation and work places for the women and earned profits by charging handling fees to their overseas counterparts.
Australian Police, acting on intelligence provided by the OCTB, arrested a Hong Kong couple in Melbourne in an operation in early June. The duo was suspected of luring and threatening Hong Kong girls to provide sex service in Australia. They have been charged by Australian Police with slavery offences and brought before the court.
The OCTB operation turned overt in Hong Kong on June 11, resulting in the arrest of a man and four women from five syndicates in various locations across the territory. They were arrested in connection with trafficking in persons from Hong Kong for sexual purpose. A number of exhibits including air tickets, documents and photo albums were also seized during the operation.
Police also successfully neutralised a number of local vice syndicates in two covert anti-vice operations codnamed "Giantswinger" and "Knotmarker".
In the course of Operation Gaintswinger, OCTB identified and targeted the vice syndicates which partitioned old residential units into suite and rented them out for prostitution services. The syndicates also advertised on websites for prostitutes in order to earn the advertising fees.
The operation turned overt on June 14 with the arrest of 16 persons. Among them, 12 were the staff members of five websites while the other four were the members of vice syndicates who rented out the residential units for prostitution.
During the operation, Police had seized 15 computers and 13 servers for further investigation.
In Operation Knotmarker, Police had dealt a heavy blow to the triad activities in Mong Kok district, resulting in the arrest of 23 persons with seizure of seven offensive weapons and some dangerous drugs.
"Under the effective mechanism of exchange of intelligence, the Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau Police in Operation Thunderbolt 07 had curbed many serious crimes involving triads and gave a severe blow to their financial sources," Mr Choy said.
He reiterated that the Hong Kong Police would continue to maintain close liaison and to exchange intelligence with neighbouring police authorities in the Mainland and Macau with a view to interdicting cross-boundary triad activities to uphold the public confidence in law and order.
Add Police Report No. 9
Issued by PPRB
End/Monday, June 25, 2007