Cross-border crackdown nets 4,140 arrests and $548m in drugs and cash

Hong Kong police, teaming up with counterparts in Guangdong and Macao, arrested more than 4,100 people and seized drugs, cash, and illicit goods worth HK$548 million during a two-phase anti-triad operation that shuttered over 800 illegal gambling dens, brothels, and unlicensed bars.

Launched under the codename THUNDERBOLT 2025, the intelligence-driven campaign ran from early August through early September and again from mid- to late October, targeting triad societies and organized crime syndicates while cutting off their cross-boundary revenue streams.

Officers raided around 1,700 locations across the city, dismantling a vast network of vice and gambling establishments in the process.

The sweep rounded up 4,140 suspects—2,454 men and 1,686 women aged 13 to 89—including 780 mainland Chinese and 557 non-ethnic Chinese individuals.

Charges ranged from murder and serious assault to drug trafficking, money laundering, running illegal brothels, and possessing offensive weapons.

Among the haul, authorities confiscated cash totaling $13.6 million believed to be crime proceeds, along with dangerous drugs valued at over HK$500 million, including etomidate, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, ketamine, and cannabis.

Law enforcement vowed to keep lines open with mainland and Macao police for ongoing intelligence sharing, determined to choke the financial lifelines of triads and prevent crime from spilling across borders.