Hong Kong police chief pledges to bring ‘cold-blooded criminals’ to justice after officer’s body found off Lantau Island
- Senior Inspector Lam Yuen-yee, 37, had been missing since Saturday morning, when her boat capsized after being rammed by smugglers
- Noting surge in maritime smuggling during pandemic, Raymond Siu says local forces will step up cooperation with mainland Chinese counterparts
Hong Kong’s police chief on Monday pledged to spare no effort in the fight against maritime smugglers, just hours after the discovery of the body of a senior inspector who went missing when her vessel was rammed by a speedboat and capsized during an operation two days ago.
Raymond Siu Chak-yee also promised to increase cooperation with mainland Chinese authorities and improve coordination among the city’s own departments to better tackle such crime.
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Hong Kong Police pay tribute to marine officer killed during anti-smuggling operation
“We will step up anti-smuggling enforcement actions. The purpose is to bring cold-blooded criminals to justice,” he said, noting maritime smuggling had increased while land border checkpoints were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Between 2017 and 2019, police arrested an average of [32] people in anti-smuggling operations each year. We arrested 66 people in 2020 and 46 suspects in just the first eight months of this year.”
According to the police chief, Senior Inspector Lam Yuen-yee, 37, and three colleagues were on board a high-speed boat during an anti-smuggling operation off Sha Chau at about 8am on Saturday.
Siu said that during the operation, their vessel was rammed by a smugglers’ boat and then capsized.