Recently, the Judiciary Police, in collaboration with the Macao Customs, intercepted a Hong Kong woman at the Macau International Airport for allegedly smuggling drugs into the territory. The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for investigation, and the suspect is currently being held in preventive detention pending trial.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect was recruited by a transnational drug trafficking syndicate and instructed to smuggle drugs into Macao on a flight from Southeast Asia. During the inspection of the suspect’s luggage, law enforcement officers discovered 30 packets of plant fragments. Upon forensic examination, the substances were confirmed to be cannabis, a controlled narcotic.
The suspect was brought before the Criminal Preliminary Hearing Court for her first judicial interrogation. Following the hearing, the Court determined that there are strong indications that the suspect’s actions constitute the crime of “Illicit Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances”, stipulated and penalized under Paragraph 1, Article 8 of Law No. 17/2009 (Prohibition of the Illicit Production, Trafficking, and Consumption of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances). Considering the gravity of the offense, the severity of the potential penalty, the risk of the suspect fleeing Macao, and the fact that other accomplices may still be at large, the Criminal Preliminary Hearing Court adopted the MP’s recommendation and ordered the mandatory measure of preventive detention for the suspect.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code, the MP will continue to lead the subsequent criminal investigation.
Narcotics not only threaten individual health and lives, but also spawn various violent crimes, seriously undermining public order and social tranquility. The MP remains committed to collaborating with all law enforcement agencies to resolutely combat drug-related crimes. Meanwhile, the MP urges the public to report any information regarding drug offenses to the authorities or directly to this Office, working together to foster a healthy and drug-free social environment.