Police in Kaohsiung have busted a crime ring that allegedly sold Taiwanese passports on the black market.
The ring is linked to local gangs and Chinese underworld syndicates engaged in international human trafficking, police said.
Thirteen people have been arrested and police are looking for other suspected members of the ring, Criminal Investigation Division First Squad Captain Chen Kuang-yu (陳冠宇) said.
“A Republic of China, Taiwan, passport can fetch a high price on the black market because many countries have in the past few years granted Taiwanese visa-free entry and other privileges, such as the ability to apply for visa upon arrival,” Chen said.
“The group had been under surveillance since last year,” Chen said.
Police discovered that the suspected ring members worked in Kaohsiung, New Taipei City and other cities, purchasing Taiwanese passports for prices between NT$5,000 to NT$8,000 each, and sold them on the black market for up to US$5,000 apiece, Chen added.
“We believe that the passports sold through underground channels end up in the hands of organized crime gangs in Taiwan and China,” Chen said.
“The passports are used to forge identities for wanted criminals on the run who plan to flee the nation. They are sold to ‘snakeheads,’ or human smugglers, in China for international human trafficking activities or to be used by Chinese nationals who have ran afoul of the law there and need a Taiwanese passport to elude authorities,” Chen added.
A raid on the Kaohsiung residence of 22-year-old suspect surnamed Su (蘇) late last month turned up seven passports that belong to other people, along with numerous ID cards, Chen said.
“Their original owners needed the money, so they willingly sold their passports to us. We are kind-hearted people who pay them money to help them get through financial difficulties,” Chen quoted Su as saying.
However, after police tracked down the passport owners, only two admitted to selling their passport for between NT$5,000 and NT$8,000; three said their passports were stolen while they were shopping or were stolen from their car; and two others said travel agencies lost their passport while applying for visas for overseas trips, Chen said.
Kaohsiung police said people who sell their passport could be prosecuted under the Passport Act (護照條例).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS