When Greek fugitive Apostolos Vavilis was arrested in April in Italy after a 10-week international manhunt, most people were likely not aware that Taiwan's police played a crucial role in the operation leading to his arrest.
In late February, George Vanikiotis, Greece's representative to Interpol, requested that the nation's police forces assist in tracing Vavilis, according to the International Criminal Affairs Section of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).
A key figure in a string of scandals involving the Orthodox Church of Greece, Vavilis was believed to have fled to Taiwan or another country with the help of his Taiwanese friends.
Based on information provided by Greek police, the CIB discovered that Vavilis had departed for Thailand and had made hundreds of flight reservations to try to shake off police.
The CIB was told that Vavilis maintained close links with the church and political communities in Greece, Europe and the Middle East, and used at least six different identities.
After analyzing the flight information, the CIB concluded that Vavilis could have headed for Rome via Bangkok and Athens using the alias Antonios Aivaliotis, and passed the information to Greek police.
Greek police later spotted him in Italy by monitoring his e-mail and credit card use, and he was arrested in the Italian city of Bologna on April 22, holding a fake Greek passport under the name of Antonios Aivaliotis.
The incident marked the first time the nation's police have taken part in a joint operation launched by Interpol, and the Greek and Italian authorities. It was also its first participation in the hunt for a criminal wanted by the European Police Office.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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