Police swept East Kowloon gambling stalls, drug caves, unlicensed gangsters and 265 people including members of Ju He Shenghe

 

[US] Seized chips. [TW] 檢獲的籌碼。

[US] Evidence such as game cards involved in the case. [TW] 涉案遊戲卡等證物。

[US] A large amount of cash was seized. [TW] 檢獲大量現金。

The Police East Kowloon Region launched "Operation Thunder" to combat illegal triad activities and sources of income in the region. They raided more than 50 premises last night (29th) and arrested a total of 265 people (16 to 79 years old). , Were suspected of "illegal operation of gambling establishments", "trafficking dangerous drugs" and "money laundering" and other crimes. It is reported that among the arrested are members of the gang and Shenghe.

The Senior Criminal Superintendent of the East Kowloon Region, Chung Lai Yi, said that the police deployed earlier and sent a number of detectives to infiltrate a number of gang-controlled game console centers, gambling venues, drug caves and unlicensed bars in the area to collect evidence. Criminals use game consoles and social platforms to induce young people to engage in illegal activities.

The police mobilized more than 500 people to participate in the operation. The Criminal Division of the East Kowloon Region, together with criminal units, special forces, mobile units, gambling experts, and criminal investigators from the West Kowloon Police District, took action for 2 consecutive days starting from yesterday. Combat illegal activities of triad societies active in East Kowloon. At 8:30 last night, the police raided relevant premises and smashed 10 gaming machine centers operating illegal gambling, 15 gambling venues offering baccarat, fishing machines, poker, etc., multiple drug canteens, and gang control Unlicensed bar.

During the operation, the police froze 4 local bank accounts and 1 stored-value payment tool account, involving a total of 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars. It was suspected that gangs were involved in handling illegal gains. So far, the police have detained 202 men and 63 women, including 6 non-Chinese individuals, suspected of "operating illegal gambling establishments", "gambling in gambling establishments", "drug trafficking", "conspiracy to traffic drugs", and "operating "Drug Cave", "Unlicensed Sale of Alcoholic Drinks", "Self-proclaimed Triad Officer", "Self-proclaimed Triad Member" and "Money Laundering", etc. Among them, 14 persons in charge of the premises were also arrested on suspicion of violating the suspension order. In addition, 75 people were suspected of violating the "Prevention and Control of Disease Regulations" at the same time, and the officers issued fixed penalty notices to them. Most of the arrested persons belonged to the same gang, and 57 people are still wanted.

In addition, the police seized about 730,000 Hong Kong dollars in cash, 339 gambling game machines, 15 value-added machines, 228 game stored value cards, card readers, and a large number of books used for redemption. In addition, the market value of more than 60,000 Hong Kong dollars was released. The suspected drugs, including ice, heroin and "Smurfs", also have a large number of packaging and smoking tools.

The police issued a total of 75 tickets for violating the "Prevention and Control of Diseases Ordinance" and arrested 14 persons in charge of the premises. Among them, 5 illegal amusement centers must be closed immediately. The police action is still ongoing and it is believed that more people will be arrested later.

The Chief Inspector of the Regional Anti-Triad Group Qiu Zongtai pointed out that according to police investigations, a triad organization active in the district controlled multiple licensed game console centers to secretly conduct gambling activities, and also conspired with the person in charge of the center to redeem points for the guests. The game points obtained will be exchanged for cash, and a commission will be drawn from it for profit. In addition, gang members have also opened a number of illegal casinos, drug dens and unlicensed bars in the district, and used the gaming center as a platform to attract new customers.

Some premises will provide a one-stop service, where different crimes occur at the same time, such as illegal gambling in places selling alcohol at the same time, and other establishments blatantly post different drug prices. Regarding unlicensed bars, the information received by the police showed that in order to attract more new customers, gangs listed new terms on different social platforms. For example, if customers pay a higher entrance fee, they can get a "one-stop" package service. In the bar, there is an unlimited supply of drugs and alcohol, and even a female escort service is provided.

In order to make guests feel at ease, the illegal places are packaged as "iron sinuses" and staff are arranged to accompany customers in and out of the bar. Steel gates, multiple soundproofing facilities and closed-circuit television systems are also installed in the bar area. There are also "watchers" on the streets nearby. Surveillance. It is reported that the relevant "business" involves extremely high profits and has become one of the main sources of income for the gang. It is estimated that the monthly turnover is as high as 1 million Hong Kong dollars, based on the conversion of gaming consoles into casinos. Illegal venues took advantage of the trend and attracted a large number of guests.

When explaining the operation, Chief Inspector Han Chenghao of the Narcotics Bureau said that the detectives noticed that the staff responsible for redemption were very vigilant. First, they would test the identity of the guests and even ask for proof of work. Some people only redeem points for regular customers and strengthened police searches. Difficulty. Some game console centers use so-called "game tokens" to replace point cards, requiring guests to exchange tokens into token exchange coupons before they exchange for cash, thereby concealing people’s eyes and eyes and making it more difficult for law enforcement officers to detect crimes.

He pointed out that all game console centers must abide by the license conditions to operate, but the agents have repeatedly succeeded in redeeming points during the operation, which shows that some responsible persons have failed to perform their supervisory duties and condoned others to engage in gambling activities, turning the venues into a hotbed of crime for criminals. Take the opportunity to commit other crimes such as peddling drugs. In order to prevent the police from pursuing the investigation, the gang will also arrange for members to go to different places to collect the proceeds of the crime every night, and then the members will go to the designated place to "log numbers" to carry out money laundering activities.

At the same time, during the investigation, the police found that the cracked drug den was different from the past. The criminals used a mixed business model, combined with a drug canteen and a casino. Guests can "betting on the machine while taking drugs while gambling." Solicit. These drug canteens are for the convenience of customers, so they use mobile stored-value payment tools to charge their accounts, and post QR Codes on the premises, and then use different accounts to process the benefits. The police have successfully tracked down the relevant accounts and frozen the funds, and will trace the flow of the group's black money.

Senior Inspector of the Regional Anti-Triad Squad, Xiao Luohui, said that the police remind the public, especially young people, not to indulge in gambling. Regulations.

He also reminded young people not to come into contact with drugs or visit unlicensed bars because of curiosity and free hospitality. In addition to gambling and drugs, these bars may become places where gangs gather and engage in illegal activities, taking the opportunity to induce young people to go astray. . The police will consider applying to the court for a heavier penalty in this case, and tracing the casino owners and tenants. If a licensee, proxy licensee or employee is convicted of violations, the police will apply to revoke and deny subsequent licensing matters.

[TW]

警掃東九龍賭檔毒窟無牌吧挫黑幫　拘和勝和成員等265人

警方東九龍總區展開「沉雷行動」，以打擊區內三合會非法活動及收入來源，並於昨晚(29日)突擊搜查逾50個處所，一共拘捕了265人(16至79歲)，分別涉嫌「非法經營賭博場所」、「販運危險藥物」及「洗黑錢」等罪行。據悉，被捕人當中包括黑幫和勝和成員。

東九龍總區刑事高級警司鍾麗詒表示，警方在早前作出部署，派出多名探員滲入區內多間由黑幫操控的遊戲機中心、賭博場所、毒窟及無牌酒吧搜集證據，得知不法分子透過遊戲機中心和社交平台誘使年輕人進行非法活動。

警方動員超過500人參與行動，由東九龍總區刑事部聯同各區刑事單位、特職隊、機動部隊、賭博專家以至西九龍警區刑事偵緝人員，由昨日起一連2日採取行動，主要打擊活躍於東九龍的三合會非法活動。昨晚8時半，警方突擊搜查相關處所，搗破10間經營非法賭博的遊戲機中心、15間提供百家樂、釣魚機、啤牌等的賭博場所、多個毒品飯堂和由黑幫操控的無牌酒吧。

行動中，警方凍結4個本地銀行戶口和1個儲值支付工具戶口，涉款共140萬港元，懷疑背後牽涉黑幫處理非法得益。截至目前為止，警方共拘202男63女，當中包括6名非華裔人士，他們涉嫌「經營非法賭博埸所」、「在賭博場所內賭博」、「販毒」、「串謀販毒」、「經營毒窟」、「無牌售賣酒類飲品」、「自稱三合會幹事」、「自稱三合會會員」及「洗黑錢」等。當中14名處所負責人亦涉嫌違反停業令被捕。另外，75人同時涉嫌違反《預防及控制疾病規例》，人員遂向他們發出定額罰款通知書。被捕人大部分隸屬同一黑幫，目前仍有57人被通緝。

另外，警方檢獲約73萬港元現金、339台賭博遊戲機、15部增值機、228張遊戲儲值卡、讀卡器及大量用於兌分的數簿，另亦起出市值逾6萬港元的懷疑毒品，包括冰、海洛英和「藍精靈」等，亦有大量包裝和吸食工具。

警方一共發出75張違反《預防及控制疾病條例》的告票，並拘捕14名處所負責人，當中有5間違規遊戲機中心需要即時強制關閉。警方的行動仍在持續，相信稍後將拘捕更多人。

總區反黑組總督察邱宗泰指出，根據警方調查發現，一個活躍於區內的三合會組織操控多間持牌遊戲機中心，暗中進行賭博行為，亦串謀中心負責人為客人兌分，亦即將所獲得的遊戲積分換成現金，並從中抽佣牟利。此外，黑幫成員亦在區內開設多間非法賭場、毒窟和無牌酒吧，並以遊戲機中心作為吸引新客的平台。

部分處所會提供一站式服務，場內同時有不同罪行出現，例如無牌賣酒的場所同時進行賭博，另有場所明目張膽貼出不同毒品價錢。針對無牌酒吧，警方接獲的情報顯示，黑幫組織為吸引更多新客，遂在不同社交平台列出新條款，舉例客人如支付較高入場費，便可獲得「一條龍」套餐服務，在酒吧內有無限毒品和酒水供應，甚至提供女伴陪酒服務。

為使客人安心光顧，不法場所被包裝成「鐵竇」，安排職員陪同顧客進出酒吧，亦在酒吧範圍裝設鋼閘、多重隔音設施和閉路電視系統，附近街頭亦會有「睇水仔」監視。據悉，相關「生意」涉及的利潤極高，已成黑幫主要收入來源之一，單以遊戲機中心變成賭場計，估算每月營業額高達100萬港元。非法場所乘勢而起，吸引大量客人。

毒品調查科總督察韓成昊講解行動時稱，探員留意到負責兌分的職員警覺性非常高，首先會試探客人身份，甚至要求出示工作證明，有部分人更只為熟客兌分，加強警方搜證難度。有遊戲機中心利用所謂「遊戲代幣」代替積分卡，要求客人將代幣換成代幣兌換券，然後才換取現金，從而掩人耳目，令執法人員更難偵破罪行。

他指出，所有遊戲機中心均要遵守牌照條件營業，惟探員在行動中屢次成功兌分，顯示部分負責人無履行監管職責，並且縱容他人進行賭博活動，使場所淪成不法分子罪惡溫床，趁機干犯兜售毒品等其他罪行。而為阻礙警方追查，黑幫亦會每晚安排成員到不同場所收取犯罪得益，成員再到指定地方「對數」，從而進行洗黑錢活動。

同時，警方在調查期間，發現破獲的毒窟不同以往，罪犯採用混合經營模式，結合毒品飯堂和賭場，客人可以「一邊打機賭錢，一邊吸毒」，當中更會提供免費冰毒及吸食工具作招徠。該些毒品飯堂為便利客人，故此利用流動儲值支付工具戶口收費，並在場所張貼收款二維碼(QR Code)，繼而用不同戶口處理得益。警方現已成功追查相關戶口及凍結款項，將會追查集團黑錢流向。

總區反黑組高級督察蕭洛輝表示，警方提醒市民，尤其是青少年切勿沉迷賭博，遊戲機中心一旦證實營運非法賭場，不論持牌人、經營者、管理人或賭客均有可能觸犯《賭博條例》。

他又提醒，年輕人切勿因好奇及免費款待，接觸毒品或光顧無牌酒吧，該些酒吧除可能涉及賭毒，更成為黑幫聚腳和進行非法活動之處，趁機誘使青少年誤入歧途。警方會考慮就本案向法庭申請加重刑罰，並追查賭場業主及租客，如有持牌人、代理持牌人或僱員違例被定罪，警方會申請撤銷和拒絕日後續牌事宜。