The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged two Chinese with stealing credit cards and expensive personal items from tourists waiting to catch flights at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport).
When the two alleged pickpockets were arrested in November last year, Zhou Jianjun (周建軍), 46, and Hu Hairong (胡海榮), 54, had expensive Swiss watches and branded accessories in their possession, investigators said.
The pair allegedly targeted Japanese and South Korean tourists as they waited for outbound flights and bought goods worth more than NT$1 million (US$31,012) using the stolen credit cards, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor Chang Chieh-chin (張介欽) said.
Due to the nature of the crime and the amount of money involved, prosecutors are seeking heavy sentences for the two, Chang said.
Prosecutors suspect that Zhou and Hu, both from the southern Chinese city of Guilin, are professional pickpockets.
The two arrived in Taiwan with tourist visas on a flight from Macau on Nov. 9 last year, and were active in the airport’s passenger departure area, investigators said.
“They allegedly stole wallets and handbags when the departing passengers were not paying attention, or were distracted while waiting for their outbound flights,” Chang said.
“The pair would take the stolen credit cards to department stores in Taipei for a ‘shopping spree’ to purchase goods, knowing that while flying, passengers could not use their mobile phones, and could not report their cards as stolen,” he added.
The pair were able to discern tourists’ nationalities by looking at the passports they were holding, Chang said, adding that when they had spotted a potential victim they would work in tandem, with Chou allegedly providing cover or a distraction while Hu picked the victim’s pocket from behind.
After one particular theft was reported, police reviewed closed-circuit TV footage and determined that Zhou and Hu were the likely suspects.
Officers put them under surveillance and on Nov. 12 allegedly apprehended them with a Japanese tourist’s bag, which contained credit cards, along with NT$13,000 in cash, 5,000 yuan, (US$718.83) and an undisclosed amount of yen.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it