The police have launched an investigation into the activities of Bamboo Union, the nation's largest gang, according to a National Police Administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The probe comes after police arrested several Bamboo Union members for their involvement in violent clashes at CKS International Airport on April 26, when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
The police source said gangs have recently stepped up their involvement in political rallies in a bid to win protection from influential politicians.
"Organized criminal groups have appeared at political rallies in recent years," the police official said. "They think if they protect those parties in rallies, [the parties] can protect them from being charged with crimes."
Pro-China stance
Of Taiwan's gangs, the Bamboo Union, which is composed largely of Mainlanders and has a history of links to the KMT, has become most involved at political rallies, the official said -- motivated in part by its strong pro-China stance. The union opposes the Taiwan independence movement.
Police last week arrested two Bamboo Union gangsters, Chang Hun-ko (
Police also arrested Chu Chia-hsun (
The officials said that Chu and his ex-wife, Wang Lan (
Police said Chang Hun-ko was the union's Lion Division (
Chang beat up the owner of a company in Kaoshiung who refused to withdraw from a bid, police said. Wu Gin-chen was accused of intimidating companies into giving the gang protection money, police said.
gangster politicians
The official said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) used to include some gangsters-turned-politicians, the most notorious being Pingtung County Council speaker Cheng Tai-chi (
He said Cheng went all out to campaign for Wu Tse-yuan (
Wu was convicted of corruption and fraud for his involvement, as a then-KMT member and director of the Taiwan Provincial Government's Planning and Development Department, in a kickback scandal over the 1992 Sipiantou water-pumping station project for Taipei County.
Cheng was arrested for the murder of Chung Yuan-feng (
He said that while local gangsters such as Cheng have traditionally entered politics purely for profit, Bamboo Union gangsters were also driven by pro-China ideology.
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