Hong Kong police have arrested two more suspects linked to a criminal syndicate that allegedly recruited mainland Chinese drivers to operate illegal ride-hailing services in the city, bringing the total number of people detained in related cases to eight within a week.
A spokesman from the force said on Sunday that a 46-year-old local woman and a 36-year-old mainland woman had been stopped at Lok Ma Chau on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and aiding and abetting breaches of conditions of stay. The mainland suspect also faces charges of money laundering.
Authorities said they believed the two women were connected to a larger criminal syndicate that orchestrated the scheme. The group allegedly used other people’s personal data to open platform accounts, which were then used for mainland drivers who entered Hong Kong and illegally carried passengers for reward.
On Saturday, officers from the New Territories North regional crime unit also said they had arrested two visitors from the mainland and three residents on suspicion of being part of the syndicate that recruits drivers to provide illegal ride-hailing services in the city by using fake accounts and identity cards.
The three Hongkongers, comprising two men and a woman aged between 41 and 65, were detained in the past few days in Tuen Mun and Lok Ma Chau for allegedly conspiring to defraud, laundering money, and aiding and abetting others to breach their conditions of stay.
