A designated police squad is to be set up to crack down on organized crime, Minister of the Interior Lin You-chang (林右昌) said yesterday.
Lin was asked to brief lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee on the measures to be adopted to address rising crime committed by human trafficking groups, emerging gangs and fraud syndicates.
“In recent years, gangs have expanded their operations by engaging in telecom fraud, online gambling, cross-border money laundering, arms and drugs trafficking, as well as other crimes,” he told the committee.
Photo: CNA
“The National Police Agency needs to enforce a systematic crackdown on organized crime by collaborating with administrative agencies to conduct joint inspections and impose penalties on businesses and venues in which gangs invest, and which they operate and own. This is the way to cut off their means,” he said.
Last month, a branch of the Bamboo Union organized a large party at the Taipei Marriott Hotel to showcase its strength and momentum, which is a common method to attract new members, he said.
Twenty-five people attending the party were involved in criminal activities, Lin said, adding that the branch was also found to be involved in nearly two dozen other criminal cases.
The National Police Agency and the High Prosecutors’ Office have launched 13 nationwide crackdowns on gangs over the past three years, Lin said.
The crackdowns have identified 1,180 crime organizations across the country and 755 businesses operated by gangs, he said, adding that 9,443 gang members have been brought to justice.
Illegal gains confiscated by police topped NT$921.7 million (US$30.27 million), Lin said.
“A designated police squad to crack down on gangs is to be established, with members coming from the Criminal Investigation Bureau and police departments in cities and counties,” Lin said.
“The squad will monitor cash flow and connections among active gangs. As gangs are often involved in wind energy, construction and other businesses, each city or county police department is to have a point of contact to help gather evidence,” he said.
Separately, the National Communications Commission (NCC) has asked people to beware of phishing text messages sent by telephone scammers via false base stations.
“Should consumers discover that their mobile phones suddenly lose reception, but quickly regain full signal, or the source of the signal suddenly switches from 4G or 5G systems to 2G, their mobile phones might have been ‘kidnapped’ by false base stations,” NCC vice chairman and spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
“At this time, they should not click on any link on the text messages sent via false base stations,” Wong said.
These false base stations, usually disguised as those for the 2G system, transmit higher power signals to cover those transmitted from normal base stations and deliver scam text messages, he said.
“In a 2G system, base stations authenticate the identification of mobile phones before transmitting signals, but mobile phones are not able to verify if they are receiving signals from a real or false base station,” Wong said.
“This one-way verification system is a security loophole, which only exists in the 2G system. Taiwan has shut down the entire 2G system. People can determine that their mobile phones are receiving signals from false base stations if signals appear to be from a 2G system,” he said.
Since 2019, the government’s anti-fraud platform has intercepted 75.05 million fraud text messages and 58.85 million scam calls, and suspended nearly 20,000 phone numbers used by scammers, NCC data showed.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS