A criminal group that allegedly collaborated with Chinese “snakeheads,” or human smugglers, has been busted, the National Immigration Agency’s Border Affairs Corps announced yesterday.
The group’s two leaders, surnamed Su (蘇) and Chang (張), sold Republic of China (ROC) passports to human traffickers in China, making a profit of about NT$20 million (US$674,309) over the past 12 months, Border Affairs Corps officials said.
Su and Chang were arrested along with four other people, most of whom are officials at temples in southern and central Taiwan, they said.
Taoyuan prosecutors said they plan to indict the suspects on charges of forgery and breaching the Passport Act (護照條例).
International cooperation was key to cracking the case, agency officials said.
Canadian authorities found Chinese nationals attempting to enter their borders using altered ROC passports as part of a global human trafficking operation run by major Chinese smuggling gangs and passed along that intelligence to their counterparts in Taiwan, they said.
Agents conducted surveillance for one year, which gave them enough evidence on the suspects’ involvement with Chinese smugglers, and found that Su and Chang operated tours in China to gain access to ROC passports for their illegal business.
The two allegedly circulated ads about making “easy money” on social media in Taiwan to persuade people to “go on a trip abroad and earn NT$20,000 in two days,” but after arriving in a Chinese city, the travelers would sell their ROC passports to the smugglers for NT$5,000 apiece, they added.
The human traffickers allegedly profited by charging Chinese nationals about US$50,000 each to be smuggled into Western countries using ROC passports, they said.
About 30 Taiwanese illegally sold their passports, the officials said, adding that they are tracking down the passport holders for questioning.
The agency officials warned the public against selling their passports for monetary gain, which is a criminal offense.
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