Two Hong Kong companies named as hub of international drugs and human trafficking ring
US Treasury slaps sanctions on mainland-born businessman it says is kingpin of operation based around casino in Laos
American investigators on Wednesday identified two Hong Kong companies as the operational hub of a “horrendous” international criminal organisation which runs drugs, traffics people and launders money.
US Treasury Department officials named mainland-born businessman Zhao Wei, who runs a casino in Laos, as the crime network’s kingpin, slapping sanctions on him, his wife and a number of companies and individuals they said were key members of his organisation.
Zhao – also a Macau SAR passport holder – and his wife, Su Guiqin, are directors of Kings Romans International (HK) Company Limited, whose registered office is in Wan Chai. They also control a second Hong Kong firm with an office in Quarry Bay.
Both offices were deserted on Wednesday.
The investigation, in which treasury officials worked with agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, found that together those two companies were “the prime entities” through which Zhao’s network operates.
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Zhao owns the Kings Romans Casino in Laos’ Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, over which he exerts de facto control, according to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
