A crackdown on organized crime started on 12 June saw the arrest of 6,400 suspects and seizure of millions of dollars in cash and contraband by Hong Kong police.
The crackdown dubbed “Thunderbolt 2023” involved the coordination of 83,000 police officers from the island, neighboring Macau and the mainland Chinese province of Guangdong, the Hong Kong police said in a press release on Wednesday.
Around 3,100 “gambling dens, vice establishments, unlicensed bars, and loan-sharks companies” were raided while 4,115 men and 2,285 women aged between 10 and 85 were arrested, the police said.
The people were arrested on suspicion of “triad-related or organized crimes” such as criminal damage, blackmail, drug trafficking, money laundering, and offenses linked to operating gambling dens and brothels.
Officers also seized drugs valued at more than HK$350 million ($45 million) and $1.5 million in cash, along with illegal items such as weapons and gambling tools.
Hong Kong police said it would continue to swap intelligence with authorities in mainland China and Macau to quash organized crime.