More than 500 arrests in Hong Kong police crackdown on illegal gambling, identity theft and gangs

Police said Saturday that two people were arrested Thursday night after officers searched a property in Mong Kok and seized four fake ID cards, 36 partially completed fake ID cards and two “green cards,” which are required to seek work in the city.

Construction workers must take a safety course and obtain a ‘green card’ before being allowed to work on construction sites.

“We do not rule out that the two detainees made false identification documents for illegal immigrants seeking work in Hong Kong,” said Chief Inspector Yan Fong-wai of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau.

He added that the workshop reportedly produced two types of counterfeit ID cards, with the price tag being HK$1,600 for the higher quality ones and HK$1,200 for the other.

The two arrested persons were 30 and 64 years old and of Vietnamese descent.

They are said to be in possession of recognition forms, which allow them to live in Hong Kong but not to work.

The two are expected to appear in a West Kowloon court on Monday, charged in connection with the alleged crimes.

Between Thursday and Saturday, another 423 people, aged between 16 and 80, were arrested in the city on suspicion of money laundering, complicity in fraud and possession of prohibited weapons.

Police arrested 248 men and 175 women, 373 of whom were Chinese.

Police said they had closed down three illegal gambling establishments operated by triads.

The Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit also arrested 86 people in separate operations carried out between July and August after intelligence revealed a dispute between two criminal gangs.

Four of the arrested people, aged between 33 and 51, are believed to be leaders of two non-Chinese criminal gangs suspected of conspiring to traffic dangerous drugs.

The other suspects, aged between 16 and 66, were suspected of, among other things, running a brothel, drug trafficking, selling illegal cigarettes and possessing counterfeit goods.

According to the police, some of those arrested appeared to have a background in the triad.

Officers inspected 25 properties suspected of being used for criminal purposes, including gambling and the storage of goods worth HK$1.2 million, which were seized.

Police seized marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine, among other things.

Cigarettes and alcohol from the black market, as well as counterfeit designer bags and watches, were also seized.

“We have busted two non-Chinese criminal syndicates,” said Chief Inspector Tai Po-yee of the Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit.

“We have successfully addressed their main source of income.”