Hong Kong police arrested 127 suspects on 8–9 October in a sweep against a Vietnamese-run loan-sharking ring that also specialised in forging Hong Kong identity cards and construction permits for illegal immigrants. The operation, revealed on 11 October, follows a six-month undercover probe in West Kowloon. Investigators allege the group charged HK$2,000–2,500 per fake document, enabling undocumented migrants—mostly from Vietnam—to secure cash-in-hand jobs on building sites and in catering. The syndicate simultaneously trapped borrowers in high-interest “daily rate” loans, enforcing repayment through violence and threats of immigration exposure. Among those detained are 37 Vietnamese nationals and ten core members, including a female ringleader with Hong Kong permanent residency. Raids yielded HK$2 million in cash, document-forging equipment, gambling devices and a HK$400,000 private car. Police are analysing seized laptops to trace clients who used the fake IDs. The case spotlights vulnerabilities in Hong Kong’s labour market as construction demand rebounds; site managers say counterfeit worker cards can bypass turnstile scanners if photo quality is high. Immigration lawyers warn that employers who knowingly hire undocumented labour face up to three years’ jail and HK$350,000 fines. Authorities will tighten real-time verification of worker cards at high-risk sites and expand Vietnamese-language outreach encouraging victims to report exploitation without fear of deportation. The Labour Department is launching joint inspections with Immigration and Police next week across 50 construction sites and ethnic-minority eateries.
Source: VnExpress International
