Shock as Macau customs chief found dead in public toilet

Macau's first ever woman customs chief - whose body was found slumped in a public toilet on Friday - had suffered slash wounds to both her wrists and her neck, swallowed sleeping pills and had a plastic bag over her head, it emerged yesterday.

The Macau authorities have classified the death of mother-of-two Lai Man Wa as suicide by asphyxiation, but it is unclear if and when both a postmortem and toxicology examinations were carried out.

Details of how the 56-year-old died deepened the sense of shock in the city and prompted Macau's secretary for security, Wong Sio Chak, to call a special meeting of customs staff to implement "emergency measures" to cope with what were described as "current matters being handled by the department".

A key matter - in which Lai was closely involved along with Macau Chief Executive Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on - was ongoing negotiations with senior mainland officials over a historic expansion of the former Portuguese enclave's maritime boundary.

Yesterday's meeting also pinpointed the fight against illegal immigration as the target of the emergency measures. In a statement from his office, Wong said the meeting was also held to "help to improve the emotional condition of the personnel".

Last year, Lai stressed that Macau's economy could benefit from a successful expansion of its marine jurisdiction.

In December last year, President Xi Jinping announced while visiting Macau, that mainland China and Macau had begun talks to ensure the "delimitation" of maritime sovereignty.