Hong Kong police arrest 147 in laundering crackdown
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong police said on Sunday they had broken up an alleged triad syndicate following a two-day citywide operation targeting drug and illegal gambling activities. Investigators said the group also built a financial network that used local bank accounts to launder nearly HK$600 million in suspected criminal proceeds.
Key Points
- Police carried out operation “Rapidhorse” over the previous two days across Kowloon and the New Territories, using undercover detectives in the crackdown.
- Officers arrested 147 people, including 93 men and 54 women aged 19 to 72, among them the alleged mastermind, nine core members and 12 other members.
- Acting Senior Superintendent Auyeung Tak said 31 of those arrested were suspected of having triad backgrounds, while the group allegedly stayed active behind a cautious leadership structure.
- Police raided a stooge account coordination centre, a money-laundering centre, four drug dens and eight gambling dens linked to the syndicate.
- Officers seized about HK$5 million in assets, including HK$3.65 million in cash and roughly HK$1.3 million in vehicles, jewellery, luxury watches, weapons, drugs and gambling equipment.
Why It Matters
The case shows police are not only targeting street-level drug and gambling operations but also tracing the financial infrastructure that allegedly supports them. For Hong Kong, that means enforcement is increasingly focused on bank-account networks and the movement of criminal proceeds, not just the underlying vice offences.