Fifty-five Taiwanese today were returned to Taiwan after being involved in or victims of scam rings in Myanmar, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.
Among them, 25 are wanted by judicial authorities in connection to separate criminal cases involving fraud, drug-related crimes, money laundering and theft, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) International Criminal Affairs Division said.
Under international pressure, Myanmar has been cooperating with Thailand and China to crack down on illegal scam centers along the border with Thailand and extricate victims held there.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The 55 landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport this morning on two separate flights from Bangkok, the NPA said.
Of the 25 fugitives, 13 are wanted for fraud, including a 32-year-old man surnamed Chuang (莊) who has five outstanding warrants and is one of the key overseas targets in a CIB anti-fraud operation dubbed Operation Fox Hunt, the bureau said.
Others wanted in connection with fraud are a 39-year-old man surnamed Tien (田), who has seven outstanding warrants, and a 20-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), it said.
Both were listed as targets by the CIB during this year’s Lunar New Year crackdown on fraud suspects returning to Taiwan.
The fugitives would be processed according to the law and brought to justice, while a further investigation would be conducted to assess whether they were involved in other illegal activities, the NPA said.
The group consisted of 51 men and four women aged between 19 and 62, the CIB said.
Of the 30 people not wanted in connection to separate cases, some went to Thailand under the ruse of selling luxury products or went missing due to debt problems, it said.
Prosecutors would investigate whether the 30 people were involved in fraud-related crimes or were victims who were deceived and trafficked, it added.
The NPA said that in February, it cooperated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send officers to the Myanmar-Thailand border to establish lines of communication, assist in repatriating victims to Taiwan and launch an investigation into online scam operations and human trafficking.
Additional reporting by CNA
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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
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
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS