Hong Kong police arrest 142 people in crackdown on triad-run businesses offering drugs, sex and gambling
- Seventy-two men, 70 women arrested after officers raid, shut down 18 vice establishments, seven gambling dens and unlicensed pub during 11-day operation
- Police also seize HK$700,000 in drugs, along with cash and gambling paraphernalia, weapons and liquor
Hong Kong police have arrested 142 people in an 11-day crackdown on triad-controlled drug, sex and gambling businesses.
Senior Inspector Thomas Anthony Lo of the force’s Hong Kong Island regional anti-triad squad said on Thursday that 18 vice establishments, seven gambling dens and an unlicensed pub were raided and shut down during the operation that ended on Tuesday.
He said the suspects included alleged triad members, gamblers and those who purportedly ran the 26 illegal premises on Hong Kong Island.
“Police arrested 72 men and 70 women, aged from 15 to 61, in connection with vice, gambling and drug-related offences,” he said.
They comprised 111 locals, 17 mainland Chinese travellers, eight foreign passport holders and six others with a recognisance form, a temporary identification document issued by the Immigration Department that permits bearers to remain in the city but forbids them from working.
Police said some of the suspects were believed to have triad backgrounds.