A US citizen accused of sexual assault of a minor in Texas has been arrested and is to be deported to the US, investigation and immigration officials said yesterday.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau last night said it had arrested Cody Wilson at a hotel in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華).
Following an official notification yesterday by the US government that Wilson’s US passport has been revoked and that he is a wanted fugitive, local law enforcement agencies stepped up their manhunt and apprehended him at Your Hotel.
Wilson did not use an alias and was registered under his own name at the hotel, the bureau said.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) said that police found Wilson at the hotel and when asked, admitted his name was Cody Wilson.
He did not resist arrest, it said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) confirmed that Wilson arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sept. 6 on a flight from Los Angeles.
Taipei police said Wilson first stayed at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), where he was booked for three days, but for unknown reason, checked out the following day.
Investigators said Wilson apparently checked an online rental site in Taiwan and signed a lease to rent an apartment suite for six months on Taipei’s Nanchang Street.
On Wednesday he paid a deposit and a month’s rent for the apartment, reports said.
The rental agency was to meet Wilson yesterday at about noon to hand over the keys to the apartment, but he did not show up, likely due to local media reports that he was wanted in the US, police said.
As of press time, Wilson had been transported to the NIA where he is being detained.
Wilson is at the center of a legal battle over efforts to make instructions for 3D printed plastic guns widely available.
Immigration officials said he entered Taiwan on a 90-day visa-free policy for US citizens.
As his passport has been revoked, he is no longer eligible for the visa-free stay and will therefore be deported, the NIA said, adding that US authorities would take over the case.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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