Officials yesterday touted the results of a recent sweep against known criminals and gangsters, which they said resulted in 310 arrests, including several organized crime bosses.
National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chen Chia-chin (陳家欽), together with Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officials, made the announcement at a news briefing in Taipei.
The sweep by law enforcement agencies took place in many parts of the nation on Monday and can be seen a major success, Chen said.
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
Among those nabbed were four men affiliated with the Bamboo Union, who are also members of the Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP), a pro-China group led by Chang An-le (張安樂), also known as the “White Wolf.”
Many Heavenly Way Alliance members were also arrested, officials said.
CIB Chief Tsai Tsang-po (蔡蒼柏) said the crackdown focused mostly on Taipei and New Taipei City, where 471 premises were raided based on reports of illegal activities.
“Police officers arrested 32 suspects who are known members of the Bamboo Union and Heavenly Way Alliance. We recovered 2,386g of various narcotics, two modified handguns and 113 bullets,” Tsai said.
After questioning, the 32 suspects would be turned over to prosecutors on charges that include extortion, blackmail, possession of narcotics and breaching the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), Tsai said.
Preparations over the past few weeks included close surveillance of organized crime gangs in Taipei and New Taipei City before prosecutors could apply for search warrants for the sweep.
The purpose of the sweep was to protect the safety of the nation’s citizens and ensure law and order, as the nation is preparing for political campaigns for November’s nine-in-one elections, Chen said.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the