A local woman was arrested on Friday for her alleged involvement in a major smuggling and money laundering case, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said in a regular conference yesterday.

Chan said that the 48-year-old suspect surnamed Kam told the police she’s a businesswoman.

According to Chan, the police were tipped off at the end of last year that Kam was using a wine cellar in Zape to store Maotai. 

PJ officers on Wednesday arrested Kam at the shop. Singapore, Hong Kong and US dollars as well as patacas in cash worth two million patacas were seized at the shop, as well as in several vehicles and a warehouse in the northern district. Police also confiscated 84 casino chips each worth HK$1 million in Kam’s home in Taipa.

Meanwhile, police seized 20,000 bottles of Maotai with an estimated retail value of 2,000 patacas each in the shop and the warehouse. Chan said that the amount involved in the case reached 140 million patacas. Police took 11 people, including Kam, her friends and colleagues to a police station for questioning. 

Kam denied the accusation and claimed that the money and chips seized were either from her shop’s takings or were provided by a mainland investor.

Chan underlined that the mainland investor had not entered Macau for several years, adding that the police suspect that Kam failed to cash the chips because the casino staff could not trace their origin. 

Chan said that the Maotai was either sold to shops near the Barrier Gate checkpoint or smuggled to the mainland.

Kam was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on Friday, facing money laundering and smuggling charges.  

This undated photo provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) yesterday shows boxes of Maotai seized by the Judiciary Police (PJ) in a godown in the northern district.

Police seize evidence including casino chips and banknotes in the suspect’s home in Taipa.