Prosecutors said yesterday weapons found on three people investigated for suspected involvement in the election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not match those used in the attempted assassination.
"Examination by police authorities have found the bullets smaller than those used in the March 19 shooting," Kaohsiung court prosecutor Wang Sun-jung said.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
"The pistols and bullets found in their possession were ruled out as being those used in the shooting," Wang said, adding police would investigate whether the three had other weapons.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The 9mm barrel, on which gunpowder residue was detected, and bullets were similar to the type used to shoot the president and Lu when they were campaigning in Tainan, police said earlier yesterday.
The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday arrested three drug dealers, saying that they may have been involved in the assassination attempt on Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
"I must say that up to this minute, none of them has admitted to the assassination attempt. We have not designated them suspects, either," Captain Chen Chia-chin (陳家欽) of the Kaohsiung City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Corps said.
"We just discovered too many coincidences linking them to the assassination attempt," Chen Chia-chin added.
After the police arrested the trio of suspects, State Public Prosecutor-General Lu Jen-fa (
The three drug dealers are 30-year-old Chang Ming-jiunn (
All of them made their living by selling ecstasy in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area, police said.
Chen Chia-chin said that the three drug dealers used to run a business selling ecstasy, as well as a night club in Tainan City. The police had been monitoring the group for some time, even using wire taps. But the police had not yet gathered enough evidence to take action. However, after the assassination attempt on March 19, they suddenly disappeared, which attracted the police's attention.
The captain said that after being arrested, Chang told officers that the group closed its nightclub in Tainan simply because of poor business and planned to resume the nightclub business in Kaohsiung City as soon as possible.
The police said they had suspected the trio might be involved in the assassination attempt for a varity of reasons:
First, the three suspects weapons and bullets were similar the gunman's weapon and bullets.
Second, forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee's (
Third, the homemade bullets which wounded the president and the vice president were one copper bullet and one lead bullet. The three suspects had homemade copper and lead bullets.
Finally, the location of Chang's club in Tainan is only two blocks away from the scene where the president and the vice president were shot.
During the arrest, officers discovered an 8mm German-made pistol, a 9mm homemade pistol barrel, nine packs of Ketamine, 456 tabs of ecstasy, a few marijuana cigarettes and 33 lead and copper bullets, all homemade.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS