Hong Kong police arrested 65 people during raids on 10 venues suspected of operating as unlicensed nightclubs and gambling dens.
The operation, code-named Thunderbolt and Roaring Tiger, took place from Friday to Saturday in areas including Hung Hom, Yau Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. More than 170 officers from the Kowloon West regional crime headquarters and the Immigration Department participated.
Superintendent Billy Ching Chi-yan said the raids targeted a criminal syndicate running illegal nightclubs in industrial buildings in Hung Hom. Suspects were accused of supplying illicit drugs and hiring mainland Chinese women on two-way permits as hostesses.
Illicit drugs valued at HK$190,000 were seized. Those arrested, 40 men and 25 women aged 25 to 63, face charges including drug trafficking, illegal gambling, money laundering and breach of conditions of stay.
