Authorities have been tracking down suspects in a gun shooting, a street brawl and disputes over debt, with the various incidents apparently all related to illegal betting on baseball games and illegal gambling operators.
Top police officials in Taipei were left with egg on their face yesterday when two officers, surnamed Lee (李) and Huang (黃), were indicted on charges of illegal gambling.
The two officers from New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) Police Precinct in New Taipei City became the target of an investigation after a group of men surrounded the precinct on Oct. 22, saying they were there to collect money on behalf of an underground gambling operator.
Lee and Huang were found to be fond of placing bets on baseball game outcomes, but lost most of the time, investigators said.
Huang accumulated a debt of NT$3 million (US$99,430) to illegal gambling operators, while Lee owed NT$760,000, they said.
Both were charged, given one major demerit each and transferred to other positions, police said.
In Tainan, the authorities said they were still working to find the gunman who fired 51 shots at a mansion in the city’s Anping District (安平) on Tuesday.
Police said the case was likely a financial dispute over money from illegal gambling, adding that the owner of the mansion, surnamed Yang (楊), is known locally for betting big money on baseball games.
Yang won bets on Taiwan and US pro-baseball games most of the time and has made considerable profits, they said.
It is likely that illegal gambling operators with links to organized crime hired a gunman to fire shots at Yang’s mansion to serve either as a warning or threat for him to return some of the winning, police said.
In a separate incident on Thursday, police in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華) had to break up a group of people who were fighting in front of a hair salon, with several men sustaining knife wounds.
Police said the fight apparently broke out over the gambling debt of the son of the owner of the hair salon, surnamed Huang (黃), who was also fond of betting on baseball games.
They said that an illegal gambling operator, surnamed Lai (賴), had gathered his men to collect the gambling debt, but the Huang family also called up their friends and local hooligans.
The two groups fought with knives and clubs.
Police were called to the scene. Several of the combatants were hospitalized for various injuries.
Eleven were charged with public disorder, blackmail and attempted murder by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS