During the 11-day crackdown, the police smashed two vice syndicates supplying massage parlors in West Kowloon and froze HK$91 million in suspected crime proceeds.

Officers also found an assortment of weapons, including a gun that may have been used in a North District robbery a few days ago and a double-decker bus robbery in North Point this year.

Chief superintendent Fung Kin-man said some of the weapons, such as machetes and baseball bats, found in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long may have belonged to the 14K and Wo Shing Wo triads.

He said similar joint operations had been held in 2003 and 2004.

In September 2003, a total of 1,041 people were arrested.

The number of arrests in operations made last September was 1,569.

More than 1,000 officers were involved in the latest exercise, which began June 8 and finished Sunday.

In one of the raids, police officers seized HK$11 million in illegal football betting slips and in another, more than 4.5 million dutiable cigarettes were found.

Officers also seized about 159,000 discs that were either pirated or contained obscene material.

It is not clear how many of those arrested are still in detention or have been charged.

Fung said that during the 11-day operation, Macau authorities sent two wanted persons back to Hong Kong, while Guangdong authorities arrested three on Hong Kong's wanted list.

Fung said senior police officers in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong carried out detailed planning before launching the joint operation.

In Macau, the police questioned about 5,500 people.

About 82 suspects are expected to be prosecuted.

dennis.ng@singtaonewscorp.com