Hong Kong police arrest 6,400 people and seize HK$410 million in illicit goods, crime proceeds in cross-border crackdown
- Officers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Macau team up for intelligence-led operation code-named ‘Thunderbolt 2023’ to bring down crime syndicates
- Police in ‘Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau sparing no effort to combat triad activities and organised crimes, especially cross-boundary syndicates’, force says
Hong Kong police have arrested 6,400 people and seized crime proceeds, narcotics and illicit goods worth about HK$410 million (US$52.4 million) after teaming up with their counterparts in Guangdong province and Macau to clamp down on illegal activities.
Law enforcement in all three jurisdictions mounted the intelligence-led operation, code-named “Thunderbolt 2023”, between June 12 and September 21 to combat illegal enterprises run by triad groups and other crime syndicates, as well as neutralise cross-border offences and cut off illicit sources of income.
“The police authorities of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau have been sparing no effort to combat triad activities and organised crimes, especially cross-boundary syndicates,” the Hong Kong Police Force said on Wednesday.
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The city mobilised more than 83,000 police officers as part of the operation, working alongside their colleagues in the immigration, customs, fire services, and food and environmental hygiene departments.
Authorities in Hong Kong searched about 3,100 locations and clamped down on numerous illegal premises, including gambling dens, vice establishments, unlicensed bars and loan sharks companies.
Local police arrested 6,400 people, comprising 4,115 men and 2,285 women aged 10 to 85. The tally included 849 mainland Chinese and 471 non-ethnic Chinese suspects.
The suspects were arrested for triad-related offences or those involving organised crime, including wounding, criminal damage, blackmail, possession of offensive weapons, and claiming to be a member of a triad society, as well as operating illegal gambling or vice establishments, control over people for prostitution and trafficking in dangerous drugs.
Other offences on the list included helping unauthorised entrants to remain in Hong Kong, lending money at excess interest rates, obtaining property by deception and dealing with items known or reasonably believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence, which refers to the practice of money laundering.
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Local police also seized illegal items including gambling tools, offensive weapons, HK$12 million in suspected crime proceeds and dangerous drugs worth more than HK$350 million.
The force said it would continue to exchange intelligence and liaise closely with its counterparts on the mainland and in Macau to combat triad groups and organised crime syndicates.
