Loan sharking bust nets 12 people

A total of 12 people have been detained in Taipa for criminal association and loan sharking activities by Judiciary Police (PJ), according to a release by the authority.
Following an operation in March of this year that dismantled a loan sharking group operating out of an apartment in Taipa, in which the PJ detained nine people, the authorities discovered the same group also operated from two apartments in Rua Bragança and Rua de Aveiro.
After a search conducted on Monday of the two apartments, the PJ confiscated more than HK$30,000 (US$3,849) in cash, together with 81 Unionpay cards and a considerable number of business cards for the illegal loan operation.
The PJ also announced that the lone sharking group had rented several apartments in Macau and had recruited several people from Mainland China to conduct their operations, with the 12 detained having operated in the city for the past 11 months.
The detainees were sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on charges of criminal association and loan sharking related to gambling activities, but the PJ stated it had yet to find the organisation leader.
Police authorities also announced that as part of their Thunderbolt Operation 2017 searches had been conducted on Monday in 10 local casinos and surrounding areas, with 308 people searched and one man taken into custody for holding an expired visa.