After a criminal gang suspected of attacking Next Media's Taiwan headquarters issued a threat to all business associates of Next magazine, the leader of the gang was arrested by authorities in Thailand yesterday.
According to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, Su Lun-yang (蘇倫養), head of the Sun Union (太陽會) was arrested by Thai police and deported to Taiwan last night.
The deportation came a day after the union faxed a threat from Cambodia to the offices of Next, other media organizations and various others of the companies associates.
The warning, issued by a senior member of the gang, Liang Juei-wen (梁瑞文), Wednesday night, stated that the union and Next were engaged in a struggle, and that organizations cooperating with Next should cease such cooperation immediately, adding that their premises would be vandalized if they did not comply.
The Sun Union is the Taoyuan branch of the Tiendaomeng crime syndicate which is widely believed to be led by former independent lawmaker Lo Fu-chu (羅福助).
Members of the Sun Union are suspected of attacking Next Media's Neihu headquarters early this month,
Wanted by police in Taiwan, Su and Liang live in Cambodia, out of the reach of Taiwan authorities.
Aside from the faxed warning, the magazine's editor in chief, Pei Wei (裴偉), also received a telephoned threat Wednesday evening, according to authorities.
Pei yesterday declined to comment on the faxed warning but said that Next would never bow to a crime syndicate. He added, "Next will keep publishing the magazine and delivering it to newsstands on time."
Police responded immediately to the warning Wednesday. The magazine's Neihu headquarters and the premises of its printer have been guarded by police since Wednesday night.
Retail outlets showed no intention yesterday of refraining from selling the magazine.
The Senseio Bookstore (新學友), said that it was sold out of the magazine's latest edition, and would continue to sell the publication.
Next's report describing alleged infighting within the Sun Union in its 65th edition upset the union, which has complained of imbalance in the report, which, it said, ignored its members' opinions.
"We are just looking for fair reporting," Su was quoted as saying by a Chinese-language daily yesterday.
Su was reported as saying that he had spoken to Next's editors, but they had reneged on a promise to print rebuttals from the union.
Earlier this month, Sun Union members came under suspicion when three security guards were injured and windows and equipment at Next's Taiwan headquarters were vandalized.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau arrested 14 suspects on Tuesday.
Next, owned by the flamboyant Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (
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