A Vietnamese man was apprehended for the alleged possession of an illegal firearm, which was used to poach wild animals in the mountains, and was found to have overstayed his visitor’s visa, Taichung police said.
Officials at Taichung’s Dongshih Precinct on Sunday said that they tracked down and arrested a Vietnamese national surnamed Trinh, who faces charges for allegedly possessing an illegal modified rifle, in contravention of the Firearms, Ammunition and Knives Control Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
Trinh came to Taiwan last year after applying for a visa to visit relatives, but checks by the police showed that his visitor’s visa had expired, so he was staying and working illegally, the precinct’s criminal investigation section head Chu Cheng-hsieng (朱政憲) said.
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Foreign nationals are issued a visitor’s visa which allows them to stay for 14 days to 60 days, depending on the person’s relatives, they said.
Trinh would face deportation after being prosecuted, they added.
The police said that during a nighttime patrol earlier this month, they came upon a parked scooter on a mountain road. A man attempted to quickly ride off on it. Upon questioning, the man ran away and officers were unable to pursue him, as he disappeared into the forest.
An illegal modified firearm, a bolt-action rifle with a triangle stock, was found on the ground, Chu said.
The precinct formed an investigation team to review surveillance camera footage, follow up on the scooter and identify the suspect, he said, adding that video footage showed a man carrying a hand-held weed cutter on the scooter.
After gathering more evidence, police had reason to believe that the suspect was a foreign migrant worker hired to trim weeds around fruit trees for orchard owners in the area, Chu said.
Police asked the National Immigration Agency for assistance, which led to Trinh being identified as the prime suspect, based on physical features from video footage and biometric data on file, he said.
After obtaining a search warrant, the police staked out Trinh’s residence, as he had been hiding elsewhere.
Trinh returned to pick up items on July 20 and was apprehended.
Upon verification, police found that his visa had expired, and he was working illegally as a manual laborer.
Investigators said evidence and testimony proved that Trinh was the owner of the illegal rifle, and that he had allegedly said that he carried the rifle to the mountain road to hunt animals for food.
Trinh said he fled at the time, fearing the police would discover that he had overstayed his visa, while police said he would be charged with possession of an illegal rifle for hunting, the statement said.
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