A Taiwanese man who had been at large since being convicted of abduction and extortion in 2002 has been brought back to Taiwan to serve his sentence after being arrested for illegal possession of weapons in Manila earlier this month.
Chen Chien-ning (陳建寧), 54, was escorted back to Taiwan by Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) agents on Wednesday and was turned over to the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office the following day.
The prosecutors took him to Chiayi Prison to serve out his sentence.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
The Chiayi District Court in April 2002 sentenced Chen to nine years in prison for kidnapping and extortion. Two accomplices in the case were given jail terms of 10 and 12 years, while a third suspect died on the run.
The rulings cannot be appealed.
On March 1, Philippine police, acting on a tip from Taiwan’s representative office in the country, apprehended Chen and three other Taiwanese suspects on charges of contravening immigration law, CIB International Criminal Affairs Division head Lee Yang-chi (李泱輯) said.
The arrests followed months of investigations, Lee said.
Philippine police were informed in December last year that Chen, alongside other fugitives from Taiwan, was engaged in unlawful gambling and money laundering in the country.
Philippine police seized five guns at Chen’s home and took the suspects to a detention center, Lee said.
On Monday last week, CIB officers and Philippine law enforcement agents searched the rented residences of several of Chen’s associates in the Manila area, seizing 85 guns and bullets, which were intended to be smuggled into Taiwan, Lee added.
The three other suspects remain in detention in the Philippines as investigations into their activities continue.
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