Police Inter-departmental operation intercepts 552 people

The Police Inter-departmental Joint Enforcement Action has intercepted 552 people in an interdepartmental operation conducted early Sunday morning, (November 27).

PINETOWER, CHAMPION and PRINTSTEP operations were launched in the early hours to combat triad societies, illegal immigrants, and illegal labor activities.

In the said operation, they inspected 32 fish wholesalers and stopped and checked 552 people in a fish market in Aberdeen. One fish wholesaler was issued a verbal warning by the department for violating the terms of his lease.

The Police clarified over the phone that the 552 were not arrested but only stopped and checked during the operation.

They also did not identify their nationalities.

Joining the operations were police officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, the Hong Kong Island Regional Anti-Triad Operations Unit, the Western District Crime Division, and Operations Division, the Marine Police South Division Inshore Patrol Team, the Tactical Unit, together with officers from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Competition Commission, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Fire Services Department, the Immigration Department, and the Marine Department.

Combating triad activities has been one of the Commissioner of Police’s primary operational objectives.

Working with other relevant departments of the Hong Kong Government and stakeholders, the police will continue to conduct intelligence-led operations to gather intelligence to combat triads and their sources of income.