TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan police arrested the suspected head of a human smuggling ring in Hsinchu City on Saturday (April 27), concluding a hunt that lasted over 6 years, per reports.
The suspect, a 50-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), is allegedly responsible for helping smuggle over two hundred people, mostly Vietnamese citizens, into Taiwan illegally for many years, reported UDN.
In 2017, Chen was arrested for attempting to smuggle 37 people into Taiwan. During that operation, a rubber boat the migrants were using capsized, which led to the death of three people.
Chen was sentenced to begin serving a six-year jail term in 2018, but he never reported to serve his term, reported Up Media. Instead, he fled and continued his illegal human trafficking business, sparking a hunt that culminated on Saturday at a small warehouse in Hsinchu’s Xinfeng Township.
Despite several years with very few leads in tracking down Chen, the trail warmed in December 2023, when a Mongolian-flagged vessel, the “Diamond 206,” was caught in waters near Kaohsiung with 16 Vietnamese people. After interrogating the crew and the migrants, it was discovered that the operation had been organized by a man surnamed Chen.
In March 2024, the Cameroonian fishing boat “JESSIE,” was intercepted with a group of 15 Vietnamese nationals on board. The investigation revealed that Chen had paid the captain of the ship NT$150,000 (US$4,600) to stop and collect the Vietnamese migrants, who sailed a small wooden boat into the Taiwan Strait to rendezvous with the “JESSIE.”
Based on intel from the two foiled human trafficking operations, a task force was formed by the Kaohsiung Branch of the Coast Guard’s investigations unit in March that included port police from Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Chiayi, and Hsinchu.
Earlier in April, officers with the Taiwan Coast Guard reportedly identified Chen and attempted to take him into custody. However, Chen resisted arrest and struck one officer with his vehicle, injuring the officer and escaping, reported ET Today.
Reports indicated that recent updates to the criminal code meant that if found guilty, Chen could face a maximum of 10 years for each of the two most recent smuggling operations. That sentence will likely be added to his previous six-year sentence, in addition to any sentences related to charges he will likely incur for fleeing justice, resisting arrest, and injuring the Coast Guard officer who attempted to take him into custody earlier this month.
