Police yesterday announced that they had broken up a human smuggling ring in southern Taiwan, arresting six suspects.
Wen Chun-lung (溫俊龍), 49, allegedly specialized in transporting wanted criminals and gangsters from Taiwan to China so that they could evade prosecution, prosecutors said.
Operating over a number of years, Wen became the “big boss” of a crime ring in southern Taiwan that used motorized fishing boats and sailing yachts to smuggle people across the Taiwan Strait, they said.
Wen took on difficult and urgent jobs for crime syndicates, charging them high rates, to help gangsters avoid being found by police searches, they added.
The fishing boats and yachts were also used to smuggle contraband goods, the prosecutors said.
Frequently chartering boats for sailing trips or luxury cruises with business clients, Wen built up an extensive network of friends in the fishing industry along Taiwan’s central and southern coasts, and learned about tides and seasonal currents that lent themselves to smuggling runs, they said.
To provide a legitimate business cover for his smuggling operation, Wen registered an agricultural export company in Kinmen, they added.
The investigation showed that Wen arranged for two hired killers to flee from China to Taiwan and for karate practitioner Chu Hsueh-chang (朱雪璋), who was convicted on assault charges, to flee from Taiwan to China.
Prosecutors said that they had evidence and witness testimony that Wen charged NT$1.4 million (US$48,532) to smuggle the hired killers, who were wanted in connection with the shooting of a man surnamed Shih (史), whose body was found with 10 bullet wounds.
Chu in September was extradited from China to serve a six-year sentence for assault with aggravated injuries.
During an ambush, he beat up three martial arts practitioners with the help of about 20 gangsters at his karate club in February 2016.
One victim was left with a permanently paralyzed leg after Chu reported slashed him repeatedly with a sword.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Taiwan’s three major international carriers are increasing booking fees, with EVA Airways having already increased the charge to US$28 per flight segment from US$25, while China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines are set to follow suit. Booking fees are charged by airlines through a global distribution system (GDS) and passed on to passengers. Carriers that apply the fees include CAL, EVA, Starlux and Tigerair Taiwan. A GDS is a computerized network operated by a company that connects airlines with travel agents and ticketing platforms, allowing reservations to be made and processed in real time. Major players include Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. EVA Air began
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS