The Judiciary Police arrested a 32-year-old Malaysian woman hired by a drug-trafficking syndicate to smuggle cannabis via Macau airport.[1] The operation was conducted in collaboration with the Macao Customs Service.[1] Judiciary Police spokesman Lei Chi Hou and Customs spokesman Cheang Mou Kei briefed reporters at the airport last night about the case.[1] The suspect was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for questioning on a drug-trafficking charge.[1]
Through intelligence analysis and risk assessment, Macau Customs officers identified the woman as a suspicious passenger on a flight arriving from Southeast Asia the previous afternoon.[1] Customs officers intercepted her as she retrieved her luggage, which contained 12 bags of cannabis weighing a total of 6.7 kilogrammes.[1] The Customs Service transferred the case to the Judiciary Police for further investigation, where tests confirmed the substance was cannabis.[1] Police put the estimated street value of the seized drugs at 6.7 million patacas.[1]
Officers said the woman had been recruited to smuggle the cannabis from an unspecified Southeast Asian country to an unknown final destination via Macau.[1] Initial police investigations indicate she was tasked with smuggling the drugs to a neighbouring region via Macau.[1] At the time of the night press briefing, police were still tracing the origin of the drugs and searching for potential accomplices.[1] Investigators were also still working to determine the final destination of the shipment and the amount the syndicate promised to pay her for successful delivery.[1] Police stressed that drug trafficking is a serious offence in Macau, carrying a prison sentence of up to 15 years.[1]
