The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) recorded 9,786
cases of crime last year, a decrease of 1.4 percent from 2003.
Macao Secretary for Security Cheong Kuok Va said at a press
conference on Monday that most types of crime in the region went
down, apart for cases of counterfeit money and drug trafficking,
which showed a significant rise.
He said that the growing number of individual travelers from the
mainland had had "no serious impact" on the city's public security
situation.
He pointed out that only seven in every 100,000 individual
visitors had violated laws during their stay there in 2004, when
Macao logged 3.5 million of them from the mainland.
Cheong said the SAR's police forces would reinforce the fight
against theft, which would otherwise taint its image with
tourists.
The department said it would continue to strengthen cross-border
cooperation with counterparts in neighboring Guangdong Province and
Hong Kong SAR to counter illegal immigration, drug trafficking and
illegal employment.
The crime rate in Macao has seen a sustained downturn since it
returned to the motherland in 1999. Prior to that, gangland
violence used to affect the gaming industry, blemishing its
international reputation in the 1990s. Crimes involving gang
violence have been almost eradicated in recent years with the
strong support of central government.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2005)