Zhuhai and Macau police have smashed an illegal IDD operation that has been operating for three years and had a turnover equivalent to a small telecoms firm.
A Hongkonger and three mainlanders were arrested. At least five other gang members, including Hong Kong residents, are on the run.
The 29-year-old Hong Kong suspect works for Hutchison Telecom Macau, a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications International.
Police said the gang had changed the routes of Macau-bound IDD calls to bypass the city's licensed telecom operators, causing them losses of at least HK$30 million. After directing IDD calls to Zhuhai, the gang relayed them to Macau using Hutchison phone cards.
'Conspiring with overseas operators, they directed calls through the internet to Zhuhai,' said Macau Judicial Police chief investigator Sit Chong-meng.
Police raided four flats in the Gongbei and Hengqing districts of Zhuhai on April 12 and on Friday, seizing telecom facilities worth HK$200,000 and more than 200 Hutchison cards. They described the operation as being equivalent to a small telecoms company.