Criminal Investigation Bureau officials yesterday said that they were working with their Philippine counterparts to extradite an Israeli-American who was arrested in the Philippines last week over his suspected involvement in the murder of a Canadian man in New Taipei City last month.
A special bureau task force has been directing the investigation into the killing and dismemberment of Ryan Ramgahan, allegedly by perpetrators wielding machetes, said Chen Cheng-hsien (陳正憲), an official at the bureau, which is under the National Police Agency.
The extradition of the suspect, 37-year-old Oren Shlomo Mayer, was being handled by the bureau’s International Criminal Affairs Division, Chen said.
Authorities have been in close contact with their Philippine counterparts regarding the case, Chen said, adding that bureau officer Wang Chih-yung (王智勇), who has been stationed in the Philippines as a liaison on criminal cases, made a significant contribution by providing information that led to the capture of Mayer in a raid by Philippine police in Cainta, near Metro Manila, on Wednesday last week.
The government made an official extradition request to the Philippines after Mayer’s arrest, and efforts are under way to clarify details and arrange for his deportation to Taiwan, Chen said.
Mayer, one of three suspects in Ramgahan’s murder identified by the bureau, could soon be returned to face trial, as Philippine authorities have officially announced his deportation.
“We have received information both from US and Taiwan authorities about Mayer’s crimes, and both request that he be deported to Taiwan,” Philippine Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente was quoted as saying on Sunday by the Manila Bulletin newspaper and Philippine media outlet Rappler.
Philippine media reported that Mayer was being detained at the immigration bureau’s detention center in Taguig City in southeast Metro Manila.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
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