Letters | Hong Kong police need to make bar district feel truly safe

“Devil’s Breath” scams in Wan Chai have seen victims losing a lot of money through no fault of their own. Police promised more action, but there appears to be little evidence of this on the streets

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A glass of beer at a bar in Wan Chai. The nightlife district has seen a spate of “Devil’s Breath” attacks, in which drugged victims wake up with no memory of how their bank accounts were emptied. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:45am, 10 Jul 2021Updated: 11:38am, 10 Jul 2021

I write with regard to reports I have seen published on several news wires in the last couple of weeks which focus on a horrible scam that is currently prevalent in the Wan Chai district. The scam has resulted in several “Devil’s Breath” victims losing a lot of money through no fault of their own.

HSBC appear to be their typical selves in these instances and are offering no response to inquiries from the press, in addition to being similarly unhelpful to the victims. This should be of no surprise.

What is very worrying, though, is the apparent lack of action by the Hong Kong Police Force on this matter. Despite an article referencing a senior police officer admitting they could be doing more to combat such crimes, I see little evidence on the streets of them following up on their word.

Several months on from when these crimes took place, a wander along Lockhart Road, in particular close to its junction with Luard Road, would see you come across a gang of people who seem to be doing nothing more than “loitering with intent”.

Hong Kong police officers patrol the party district of Lan Kwai Fong to make sure bars are abiding by Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, in Central on Christmas Eve 2020. Photo: AFP

Notwithstanding that the numbers very often constitute a breach of social distancing regulations on groups of people congregating, I find it astonishing that the police continue to allow these people to hang around this corner.