Fifty-five Taiwanese yesterday were repatriated after being involved in or were victims of scam rings in Myanmar, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.
Among them, 25 are wanted by authorities in connection to separate criminal cases involving fraud, drug-related crimes, money laundering and theft, the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s (CIB) International Criminal Affairs Division said.
Under international pressure, Myanmar has been cooperating with Thailand and China to crack down on illegal scam centers along the border with Thailand and extricate victims held in the country.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The 55 landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning on two separate flights from Bangkok, the NPA said.
Of the 25 suspects, 13 are wanted for fraud, including a 32-year-old man surnamed Chuang (莊) who has five outstanding warrants and is one of the key overseas targets in a CIB anti-fraud operation dubbed “Operation Fox Hunt,” the bureau said.
Others wanted in connection with fraud are a 39-year-old man surnamed Tien (田), who has seven outstanding warrants, and a 20-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃). Both were listed as targets by the CIB during a Lunar New Year crackdown on fraud suspects returning to Taiwan.
The suspects are to be processed and prosecuted, while a further investigation would seek to assess whether they were involved in other illegal activities, the NPA said.
The group consisted of 51 men and four women aged 19 to 62, the CIB said.
Of the 30 people not wanted in connection to separate cases, some traveled to Thailand under the ruse of selling luxury products or were fleeing debt problems, it said.
Prosecutors would investigate whether the 30 were involved in fraud-related crimes or were victims who were deceived and trafficked, it added.
The NPA said that in February, it worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send officers to the Myanmar-Thailand border to establish lines of communication, assist in repatriating victims to Taiwan, and launch an investigation into online scam operations and human trafficking.
Additional reporting by CNA
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