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Watch Out in Macau

MACAU In a Reuters World Service story, it's become clear that a get-away to Macau can be hazardous to your health. The Portuguese-run territory which was once considered an "oasis of security" popular for stressed out Hong Kong gamblers is now being dubbed the "Chicago of the Orient." (although we wonder how Mayor Daly feels about that analogy??)

Heavily armed police fanned out across Macau recently in search of drive-by hitmen who gunned down three men in the latest wave of gangland warfare. It seems that the problem is mafia-like Chinese criminal societies.

Macau police say the killing of Hong Kong's "Tiger of Wanchai," alleged gangster Anderly Chan, during the 1993 motor racing Grand Prix, signaled the prelude to gang warfare in the territory.

Macau, due to revert to China in 1999 after more than 400 years as a Portuguese outpost, lies just 40 km (25 miles) from the British colony of Hong Kong.

More than a dozen deaths and scores of beatings and injuries have been attributed to gang violence so far this year. Twenty-one murders were reported in the enclave of just 445,000 people in 1996.

The battles between Macau's two main gangs seems to be over a greater share of proceeds from casino loansharking, smuggling, protection rackets and prostitution.

The impact on tourism, however, has been mixed. Over two million tourists visited the enclave in the first quarter of the year, up 2.7 percent from the same period in 1996.

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