TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police questioned over 1,000 people who attended a gangster's funeral in Pingtung on Wednesday (Sept. 4) and arrested two wanted men.
The funeral for Pingtung gang leader Chen Hsu-hao (陳昫豪) was held in Kanding Township on Wednesday, per CNA. Police set up checkpoints along the funeral procession route and deployed 271 officers for security.
Chen was fatally shot on the streets of Kaohsiung's Zuoying District on Aug 15. Over 3,000 people dressed in black and white from northern, central, and southern Taiwan participated in Wednesday's ceremony.
Police were on high alert, beginning their deployment around 3 a.m. and setting up checkpoints. Officers were deployed from six precincts to set up three zones, five checkpoints, and two evidence collection stations.
Officers questioned 1,348 attendees, resulting in the detention of two fugitives, three underage youths, and two missing persons. According to the police, the two fugitives arrested were a 23-year-old man wanted for fraud and a 24-year-old man wanted for drug-related offenses.
In addition to a 200-meter-long row of paper pagodas, 51 supercars, collectively valued at over NT$700 million (US$21.7 million), lined up on the road leading to the venue. One car owner remarked that this was the largest sports car procession seen at a funeral in the past three years.
Representatives from the Pingtung County branches of the Democratic Progressive Party, Kuomintang, and Taiwan People's Party were present to pay their respects. Pingtung County Council Speaker Chou Tien-lun (周典論) also attended the ceremony, responding to media inquiries about his presence by saying, “It's perfectly normal for friends to bid a friendly farewell.”
