Police in central Taiwan have apprehended 15 people alleged to be members of a criminal gang, and seized firearms and ammunition, authorities said.
Law enforcement officers yesterday morning stormed a number of locations in Yunlin County, including a KTV parlor and several residences in Siluo Township (西螺), where the 15 were arrested, including a man surnamed Huang (黃), who is alleged to be the ringleader of the gang, authorities said.
Central Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau officials said the Siluo-based group used firearms and intimidation tactics to collect debts and also extorted money from businesses, destroying property with bats and iron bars if people did not pay protection money.
The businesses targeted for extortion were mostly KTV parlors, nightclubs and electronic gambling dens across Yunlin County, police said.
In one case last year, a business proprietor was beaten and left with severe head injuries and one severed finger after an attack that was allegedly carried out Huang’s gang, police said.
During the raids, officers seized a cache of more than 100 bullets, flak jackets, one US-made Bushmaster XM-15 semi-automatic rifle, and one Walther P99 pistol.
Officers said it was a surprise to find the XM-15 rifle, since it is a powerful weapon that can only be obtained illegally and commands a high price on the black market.
In separate investigations earlier this week, authorities arrested two men at two locations over alleged illegal possession of firearms, police said.
Taichung prosecutors said that police seized two pistols, two semi-automatic rifles, parts of an unfinished AK-47 rifle, and various tools and parts for assembling and modifying firearms, along with 40 bullets.
The two suspects were charged with breaches of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), prosecutors said.
Investigators said the two suspects — one of whom lives in Taichung and the other in Yilan County — are friends with a shared interest in military paraphernalia who took part in outdoor survival games and paintballing.
One suspect has a job with a computer technology company, and the other is a university graduate student, police said, adding that from playing mock field battle games, their passion grew into acquiring and modifying their own weapons.
The two suspects said they purchased the AK-47 parts and other weapons online.
They said they had spent several million New Taiwan dollars on online mail orders, including purchasing from US Web sites that provide itemized lists for sale of military weapons and surplus materials.
One of the suspect, surnamed Chen (陳) said he bought the AK-47 in the US and disassembled it to bring into the country in separate luggage and cargo packages.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS