Officers from the Internet Crime Investigation Squad yesterday questioned 14 people who operate Web sites that are allegedly used by gangsters to send messages and plan crimes.
According to the Internet squad, which falls under the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau, a growing num-ber of local gangsters are using Internet to communicate or plan criminal activities.
The people questioned yesterday work in different business fields. They include a 24-year-old female English teacher who lives in Hsinchu but works at a cram school in Taipei, a 13-year-old junior high school student and a 17-year-old Taiwanese citizen currently registered as a student in China.
The 14 people who were questioned run Web sites with names like "Thunder.com," "The Bamboo Enterprises," "Mafia Club" and "Mafia Encyclopedia." These sites carry information on subjects like how gangs are organized, how and where to buy firearms and how to deal in drugs.
Eric Lee (
"We have evidence and good reasons to believe that some of the Web sites were actually hosted by local gangs such as Tiendaomeng (
The police have found that the people who visit these sites are all junior or senior high school students, aged from 13 to 20.
According to the police, gang-sters are turning to the Internet to avoid detection by the police.
Lee said that police officers and prosecutors from Keelung, Taipei, Shihlin, Panchiao and Taichung have been keeping an eye on these Web sites for more than two months.
They decided to strike yesterday after they discovered that Web masters were trying to recruit more students for local gangs.
Lee said the English teacher, who is also a college student in Hsinchu, apparently started her Web site because she admired gang culture.
"She told us that it is her dream to become the head of a gang. Although she said that she did this for fun, we still have to figure out if the truth fits her description," Lee said.
The 13-year-old boy, who is the youngest of the 14 suspects, did not care about the criminal charges he might be facing, Lee said.
"He does not know how serious this problem could be. This boy even wanted to have his picture taken with our officers," he said.
The police said that the suspects will be transferred to local pro-secutors' offices, who will decide whether further action should be taken.
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