Macau’s Judiciary Police detained a 40-year-old local travel agent over a cannabis parcel sent to Macau by post from abroad, after a joint investigation with Hong Kong Customs.[1] On 24 May 2022 officers intercepted the man at a parcel pick-up point in the Central district as he came to collect the parcel.[2] A police spokeswoman identified him as a 40-year-old local man surnamed Cheong who works in tourism.[3]
The first reports described six packets of cannabis wrapped in tin foil weighing 140.45 grams, with a black-market value of about MOP148,000 (US$18,306).[1] Laboratory examination confirmed the parcel held 147.456 grams of marijuana worth approximately MOP148,000.[2] A local Chinese-language report also put the parcel at six foil-wrapped packets of 140.45 grams.[4] The Chinese-language newspaper Zheng Bao said the cannabis was worth MOP147,000 and that the suspect tested negative for drugs.[5] Officers then searched his home in Taipa and seized a marijuana grinder, a glass bottle with a bong and storage containers.[2] Police in Macau said grinders and smoking tools were found at his residence in Taipa and the investigation would continue.[1] Va Kio Daily reported that the haul was found in one package and described six foil-wrapped packets weighing about 147 grams.[6]
The Judiciary Police said intelligence exchange with Hong Kong’s Customs Drug Investigation Bureau showed the parcel had been sent to Macau via Hong Kong from an American country.[2] The submitted account instead said the suspect admitted buying the drugs online and sending them to Macau from the “Americas”, without police naming the country of origin.[1] The Macau Post Daily reported that during the joint investigation with Hong Kong police, officers found Cheong had bought the drugs in South Africa and had them posted to Macau via Hong Kong.[3] Cheong told police he bought the marijuana abroad for personal use and had been taking the drug for a year and a half.[3] Macau Today News reported that the suspect said he had bought cannabis online from overseas to relieve stress because the pandemic had cut visitor numbers.[7] He admitted buying the drugs online, and the Chinese-language report says he refused to say whether he had been dealing.[4]
He was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office on charges of illegally trafficking narcotics, illegally consuming them and improperly possessing utensils or equipment.[2] Zheng Bao likewise reported that the man was sent to the Public Prosecutions Office suspected of drug trafficking and drug use.[5]
