Taipei County police late on Wednesday night arrested 17 suspected high-ranking members of a sub-organization of the Bamboo Union — one of the largest criminal organizations in the country — that had recruited more than 200 junior high school students into the gang.
A police investigation revealed that currently registered junior high school students as well as school dropouts from Sanchong (三重), Lujhou (蘆州), Tucheng (土城) and Sijhih (汐止) in Taipei County had been recruited into a Bamboo Union gang called “the Fighting Bears.”
Gang leaders control the young members by providing them with drugs, and the young gangsters serve as bodyguards or messengers and are assigned tasks by the gang, police said.
The Fighting Bears has a set of very strict regulations. Those who violate the rules are beaten, threatened or abused.
Members are given different titles, and those with lower ranks must address their superiors as “big brother.” The younger members are required to give total obedience to senior members, and everyone is required to pay a monthly contribution ranging from NT$100 to NT$250, according to their level of seniority.
The police first discovered that gangs were recruiting school pupils when they apprehended a Taipei County junior high school student who admitted that he had joined the gang about a year ago.
Investigators followed up on the case and arrested a suspect named Chen Ta-ching (陳達慶) for allegedly selling drugs to junior high school students, which led to the arrest of the 17 high-ranking members of the Fighting Bears.
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