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Human smuggling ring cracked

Tu Fu-feng, a suspected human trafficker, is escorted after his arrest by Criminal Investigation Bureau staff in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Taiwanese police working in conjunction with US officials busted a cross-border human trafficking ring and arrested 12 suspects, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.

Bureau agents said the ring is suspected of smuggling Taiwanese women to the US and other countries for prostitution and other sexual exploitation.

The agents said the ring's alleged mastermind, Lin Ming-tang (林明堂), associate Chen Jung-chi (陳榮基) and 10 others were arrested in raids in Taoyuan, Taipei and Keelung on Wednesday.

The suspects included several linked to a major pornography ring associated with Lin's smuggling racket.

Prostitutes nabbed

They said that US customs and immigration authorities in San Francisco have apprehended 12 Taiwanese prostitutes since February last year, leading them to suspect that the women were "exported" by human traffickers.

The US, which has stepped up screening measures for foreigners in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, sent officials to call on bureau Commissioner Huang Mao-sui (黃茂穗) to seek assistance in tracking down human traffickers.

The American Institute in Taiwan has also looked into the visa application and auditing procedures for the women.

The bureau set up a task force which confirmed that the women were deceived and threatened by the ring and that they used forged papers to get tourist or student visas, allowing them to travel to major US cities, investigators said.

The task force also said that more than 100 women have been repatriated by the US and Japan, though the actual number of women involved in such illegal activities could be higher.

Agents said that Lin's ring set up "phantom" companies between 2005 and last year that helped the women use forged papers to apply for visas.

Lin's operations also extended to Britain, Canada, Japan, Australia and Guam, the bureau said.
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