Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyan (蘇嘉全), Minister of Justice Morley Shih (施茂林), State Public Prosecutor-General Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) and National Police Agency Director-General Shieh Ing-dan (謝銀黨) yesterday launched a new anti-gang program as the government seeks to relentlessly crack down on the nation's criminal underworld.
The announcement comes after a victory for law enforcement officials after the arrest of the notorious kidnap-for-ransom gangster Chang Hsi-ming (張錫銘) on Wednesday.
The initiative, called Chihping Anti-Gangster Program (治平專案), is a large-scale project that will crack down on organized crime.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
"The project will take aim at five types of organized crime activity," Shih said. "These include groups which take advantage of legal businesses to cover their illegal activities; violent debt collectors; elected officials with underworld connections; politicians who ask for kickbacks or are involved illegal activities surrounding the major construction projects; and international crime rings that operate on either side of the Taiwan Strait."
According to Shih, Chang and his associates belong in the last category, but police have yet to determine who was the mastermind behind the infamous kidnap-for-ransom network.
"Our investigation showed that crime rings assign detailed tasks to each of its members. Everyone in the group is involved in a portion of a crime. As a result, it also takes more time for officers to locate and arrest all the people involved," Shih said.
Su said that even though the arrest of Chang and several of his fellow gang members was a victory for the fight against organized crime, the investigation into the nation's most-wanted criminal continues.
"In Chang's case, we have arrested 52 gang members, seized 38 assault rifles, submachine guns and pistols, 1,700 rounds of ammunition and body armor," Su said.
"But this is not good enough, so we have to come up with more relevant leads and keep fighting against the criminals," he added.
According to the interior minister, the investigation also revealed that some of Chang's accomplices have fled to China.
"No matter where they are hiding, we will do our best to bring them back to Taiwan for trial and punishment, even if they are hiding in China," Su said.
Shih also announced that Prosecutor-General Wu was assigned to lead the anti-gang initiative.
In the past, if a gang member was arrested by police during a special crackdown drive, they were taken to the prison on Green Island and usually detained indifinitely without charge or trial.
However, the Green Island Prison was decommissioned in 2002 and all its inmates were moved to prisons in Hualien and Taitung.
"In the future, whoever is arrested in an anti-gang drive will be detained in local detention jails and officers will carry out their jobs in a professional manner," Wu said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
RSS