Police Operation "Nightstinger" to combat triad and organised crime

Hong Kong Police arrested 222 people in an anti-crime operation codenamed "Nightstinger" conducted from December 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012 which resulted in seizure of dangerous drugs, obscene optical discs, duty-not-paid cigarettes and cash with a total worth of about $700,000.

Speaking at a pressconference today (January 9), Acting Chief Superintendent of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB), Mr Michael Cheuk Hau-yip, said this intelligence-led operation aimed at smashing a syndicate active in Kowloon and the New Territories, curbing its expansion and tackling triad-related crimes.

OCTB deployed undercover officers in the last two years with a view to infiltrating into the syndicate, collecting crime-related evidence, and obtaining information of its core members. Officers have arrested 78 men aged from 15 to 68 for trafficking in dangerous drugs, blackmail, unlawful gambling, serious wounding, managing a triad society, acting as a member of a triad society and affray. Among the arrestees, 22 of them have been charged with corresponding offences and have already appeared at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts for trial on December 31, 2011.

The remaining ones were bailed pending further enquiries and are required to report back to Police from late January to early February, 2012.

Meanwhile, officers of OCTB, Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Bureau, Commercial Crime Bureau and all Regional Anti-triad Units conducted a territory-wide arrest operation from December 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012. A total of 78 men and 66 women aged from 27 to 62 were arrested in connection with triad, drug-trafficking, unlawful gambling and other violence offences. Among the arrested, 68 of them have been charged with triad-related offences while the remaining ones were bailed pending further investigation and should report back in mid-February, 2012.

Seizures include unlawful gambling money worth about $160,000, dangerous drugs with a market value of about $200,000, about 10,000 obscene optical discs, some 1,640 illicit cigarettes and offensive weapons.

The Police reiterated that they have full confidence and ability in combating against triads, organized crimes and crime syndicates. A proactive intelligence-led strategy will continually be adopted to tackle triad members and activities.

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Masked refugee creates new headaches

Meet the man behind the mask, behind the man who wore the mask that made a laughing stock of security procedures at a major international airport. Rusty Slusser is the founder of SPFX Masks, the company that makes the hyper-realistic silicone mask used by a Chinese national to fool airport security in Hong Kong and board an Air Canada flight bound for Vancouver using someone else's boarding pass. The disguise he used was a full head-and-torso mask which made him look like a wrinkly, old Caucasian male. The unnamed 22-year-old male shed his second skin midflight and was arrested when the plane landed. He has since applied for asylum.

The bizarre nature of the escapade has created headlines around the world since the story broke at the weekend. But Slusser, 39, dismisses it as unwelcome attention. "We are very proud of what we have accomplished," he said in a telephone interview. "But we are not proud about how our masks have been misused." Authorities investigating the security breach believe that the Chinese male swapped boarding passes with a US passport holder in a scheme that was probably hatched by people smugglers.

This marks the second time this year that Slusser's masks have been used in illegal circumstances. In April, a white man is accused of having committed six bank robberies in Ohio disguised as a black man. Conrad Zdzierak, 30, used another one of Slusser's creations to carry out the robberies, evading capture initially because police were looking for a suspect with a different skin colour. Slusser said he was co-operating with authorities in the case of the robberies but had yet to be contacted over the asylum seeker case.

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