According to the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department on the 6th, in order to thoroughly implement the central government's decision-making and deployment on the normalization of the anti-gang crime struggle and severely crack down on cross-border organized crime, the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department and the Hong Kong and Macao police deployed the "Thunder 2021" joint crackdown operation in June 2021.
The police in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have been sparing no effort to combat triads and organised crime, especially against cross-border criminal syndicates. According to the operational arrangement, the "Thunder 2021" operation was carried out in two phases from June 6 to July 11 and from August 16 to 30 this year, which is a joint intelligence-led law enforcement operation aimed at cracking down on the illegal activities of triads and organized criminal groups, dismantling cross-border crimes and cutting off the source of income of criminals, further purifying the social security environment, and maintaining the sustained and stable development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
During the operation, the Guangdong police investigated more than 13,000 entertainment venues and inspected more than 14,000 vehicles; cracked more than 670 criminal cases and arrested more than 1,100 suspects; investigated and handled more than 1,100 public security cases, punished more than 1,800 lawbreakers in public security cases; seized more than 130 drug-related personnel; seized 1,300 grams of various drugs, 14 air guns, and 164 bullets; seized more than 5.1 million yuan in stolen money; and seized 5 illegal boats and seized nearly 10 tons of smuggled goods involved in the case.
According to Hong Kong media reports, the Hong Kong police held a press conference on the 6th to say that during the operation, the Hong Kong police arrested a total of 2320 people, the youngest of whom was only 11 years old; the total value of cash, drugs and goods involving illegal activities seized was about 390 million Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to about 324 million yuan); and at the same time, the gambling group was smashed, involving more than 3.6 billion Hong Kong dollars (equivalent to about 2.989 billion yuan) betting amount.
On September 6, the Hong Kong police held a press conference on the "Operation Thunder 2021" joint police operation Image source: Video screenshot
Chief Superintendent wong of the Organised Crime and Triad (O) Investigation Bureau said that the Hong Kong police, together with Customs and Excise Department, Immigration Department and Fire Services Department, conducted more than 38,000 searches of nearly 2,000 premises, including bars, game console centres, Internet cafes, party rooms and residential units, as well as the destruction of illegal gambling stalls, prostitution establishments and drug distribution centres.
During the operation, the Hong Kong police arrested a total of 2,320 people suspected of committing triad and drug-related offences, robbery, illegal entry, illegal gambling, gambling, criminal damage, extortion, injury and possession of offensive weapons. The arrestees included 1,616 men and 704 women aged between 11 and 84, of whom 85 were mainlanders and 140 were of non-Chinese descent.
The Hong Kong police also seized drugs and psychiatric drugs worth a total of about HK$370 million, including marijuana, ketamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, etc.; in addition, the Hong Kong police also seized a variety of offensive weapons, bootwright cigarettes, bootleg oil, pornographic CDs and a large number of illegal betting records.
Seizure of offensive weapons
Wong wei said that the Hong Kong police found that many illegal entertainment venues had become hotbeds for the spread of the virus, and found that many citizens had violated the gathering restriction order, so a total of about 3,000 fixed fine tickets were issued. In addition, the Actions of the Hong Kong Police include the arrest of 40 people, including the group's main brain and backbone, in response to illegal peripheral gambling activities held at the European Cup held in June this year, to crack down on the use of virtual bank accounts to accept bets. Among them, the seizure of more than HK$21 million (equivalent to about RMB17.4346 million) in cash, the freezing of multiple bank accounts and the betting record of more than HK$3.6 billion (equivalent to about RMB2.989 billion) are the highest in the past 10 years, and the Hong Kong police believe that they have dismantled two local illegal peripheral betting syndicates.
Chief Superintendent Wong Wai of the Organised Crime and Triad (O) Investigation Bureau
According to the "Macao Daily" news on the 6th, the Macao police held a press conference on the "Thunder Operation 2021" joint police operation at the Police General Bureau at 10:00 a.m. on the same day, and Wong Chi Kang, assistant to the Director General of the General Police Department, Chen Jianxiong, deputy director of the Judicial Police Bureau, Leung Hing Kang, deputy director of the Public Security Police Bureau, and Bu Jiaming, acting director of the Macao Customs Department, attended the press conference, and announced the statistics of the relevant operations to summarize the effectiveness of the crackdown.
On the 6th, the Macao police held a press conference on the "Operation Thunder 2021" joint police operation
According to Huang Zhikang, the police of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao launched the "Thunder Operation 2021" joint policing operation in two stages, with the aim of preventing and combating cross-border organized crime and jointly maintaining the public security environment in the three places.
In Macao, under the overall planning and coordination of the General Directorate of the Police, the Macao Customs, the Public Security Police and the Judicial Police, the Macao Customs and The Judicial Police are jointly implemented to target cross-border organized crime, drug crime, illegal gambling, loan sharking, illegal currency exchange, manipulation of prostitution and human trafficking, telecommunications network fraud and smuggling. A total of 9,721 police personnel were mobilized, 31,086 person-times were investigated, and 2,172 persons had to be taken back to the police district for further investigation, of which 516 persons were sent to the judicial authorities for interrogation on suspicion of committing criminal offences, involving 443 cases.
During the operation, the executive department increased patrol operations such as the market, coastal and managed waters, as well as strengthened the interception of entry and exit ports, cargo ports and other locations; and carried out various types of crackdown and surprise inspection operations on different targets, including patrolling billiard rooms, game console centers, Internet cafes, karaoke, bars and other different types of entertainment venues; casinos and casinos, as well as suspicious commercial and residential units suspected of violating the law. A total of 746 operations were carried out, with a total of 1,571 inspections. In connection with the maritime crackdown, the Macao Customs dispatched a total of 319 patrol boats and boats, and in connection with the smuggling of parallel goods, a total of 543 people were administratively prosecuted for violating the Foreign Trade Law, of which 403 were foreign employees, and cosmetics products, computer hard disks, electronic products, brand-name clothing, cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and other items were seized.
Huang Zhikang concluded that the two-stage action has played a role in purifying the regional public security environment, preventing and combating cross-border crimes, deterring and stopping various illegal acts in the region, and achieving the expected results. It is worth noting that in recent years, Macao and neighbouring areas have been affected by the impact of the new crown epidemic, and the economy, people's livelihood and even the lifestyle of the public have also changed as a result, there are more uncertainties in the society, and at the same time it will also affect the trend of crime and the change of the pattern of crime, for this reason, the Police will maintain a high degree of vigilance, pay close attention to the changes in the trend and pattern of crime in Macao and neighboring areas, strengthen the exchange of intelligence between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and launch targeted crackdown arrangements in a timely manner to jointly maintain the security environment between regions. Ensure the stability of citizens' lives.
Macau police bring 11 people back to the Public Security Police Station for investigation Source: Macao Daily News
According to reports, in the "Thunder 2021" joint crackdown operation, Guangdong public security and Hong Kong and Macao police planned in advance, closely coordinated, carefully studied and formulated action target strategies, joined hands to crack down on cross-border organized criminal activities, jointly detected a number of cross-border organized crime cases with major impact, and cracked down on a number of suspects who committed cross-border crimes in accordance with the law.
On June 4, two mainland men fled Macau after violently snatching HK$1.3 million in cash from a resident yu at a Hotel in Macau, and the Macau police requested the Guangdong public security organs to carry out an emergency investigation. After receiving the report, the Guangdong public security organs quickly launched the cross-border case investigation and investigation work mechanism, and jointly carried out online and offline research and judgment with the Macao police, and found that Zhang Moucheng, Yuan Mouchao and other 3 people were suspected of major crimes, and successfully arrested 3 criminal suspects the next day, and it took only 12 hours from the occurrence of the case to the cracking of the case.
In addition, the Zhuhai Municipal Public Security Organs, on the basis of the clues of the "Exercise Voucher" series of fraud cases reported by the Macao police, simultaneously carried out a unified network collection operation in many parts of the country, arrested a total of 21 criminal suspects, cracked 56 cases, seized a large number of items involved in the case such as "exercise vouchers", bank cards, and mobile phones, and successfully smashed a criminal gang suspected of cross-border fraud; the Zhongshan City Public Security Organs took active actions and took the initiative to severely crack down on cross-border organized crime and successfully closed a number of cross-border criminal gangs; the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Organs carried out " The second centralized inventory operation of Thunder 2021 successfully arrested Zhang Mouzhou, a criminal suspect suspected of smuggling ordinary goods and items, and effectively maintained the stability of social order and order.
The relevant person in charge of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department said that under the strong leadership of the provincial party committee, the provincial government and the Ministry of Public Security, the public security organs of the province will work together with the Hong Kong and Macao police to continue to organize and carry out the "Thunder" series of joint operations, continue to maintain a high-pressure crackdown on cross-border organized crime, continuously consolidate and expand the achievements of the battle, and create a safer and more stable social environment for the construction of the Safe Bay Area, the Convenient Bay Area, and the Shared Bay Area.
The Hong Kong police agreed, saying they would continue to maintain close liaison and exchange information with the mainland and Macau police to crack down on cross-border triad crime syndicates in order to safeguard public confidence in law and order.