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Police arrest 10 suspected car thieves

Police yesterday arrested 10 people who allegedly stole cars, chopped them up, sold the parts and extorted the vehicles' owners.

Under orders from Shihlin Prosecutor Chin Kai-sheng (靳開聖), a joint team of police officers from the National Police Admin-istration's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the Taipei Police Headquarters' Criminal Investigation Corp (CIC), the Taipei County Police Department's Criminal Investigation Corp and Taichung City Police Department's 4th Precinct arrested 35-year-old lead suspect Lee Chen-hsiang (李禎祥), the alleged leader of the criminal ring, at his Taipei residence early yesterday morning.

Following Lee's arrest, officers arrested another nine suspected members at eight different residences in Taipei City, Taipei County and Taichung City. They were Liu Chen-sheng (劉振聲), Weng Shun-chiu (翁順秋), Lee Wan-lung (李萬隆), Chen Hsiao-ching (陳小青), Huang Wen-chung (黃文忠), Huang Chia-chi (黃嘉琪), Tsung Che-yi (叢哲怡), Tseng Hsiang-hsiung (曾祥雄) and Tseng Hsiang-te (曾祥德).

During the arrests, police also discovered nearly 5,000 fake photo identification cards, 33 cellular phones, 181 bankbooks and a large number of car parts.

Police said the ring began its activities two years ago and most of its alleged crimes were committed in Taipei City, Taipei County, Taichung City and Pingtung County.

The CIB's Third Division Chief Chen Chia-chin (陳家欽) said the gang stole cars and extorted the owners, asking for ransoms ranging between NT$30,000 and NT$100,000 for the cars.

But regardless of whether the owners paid up, the stolen vehicles were chopped up and the parts sold to dealerships in southern Taiwan.

The ring also allegedly faked vehicle identification numbers so buyers wouldn't learn that the parts were from stolen vehicles.

"We have more than a 100 victims who paid a ransom but never got their cars back," Chen said.

"According to our estimate, these guys have made at least NT$10 million through their illegal deals over the past two years."

Chen said the ring was also attempting to sell stolen parts by posting advertisements in car magazines and through local flea markets.

Police officers had a difficult time tracing the parts because of the fake identification cards.

"We're glad that we have successfully stopped them," he added.
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