A man suspected of being a key figure in an extortion ring in Taoyuan City’s Zhongli District was arrested in Guishan, another district in the city, on Friday night after police raided his residence.
Police said Saturday that the 35-year-old man, nicknamed “Milk Tea” or “Cha Dong (Chairman Tea)” was arrested at around 11 p.m. Friday with NT$520,000 (US$16,149) in cash found at his home, which is believed to be illegal income from the extortion activities, after eight other ring members were arrested the day before.
According to police in New Taipei, the suspected members of the extortion ring lured their victims to a location in Zhongli on the pretext of interviewing for a high-paying job.
Police said the suspected ring members then confiscated the captives’ identity documents, passbooks, and personal seals and forced them to surrender their bank account passwords, adding that the accounts were likely then used to launder money or for other fraudulent activities.
The extortion ring has been connected to the deaths of three people kidnapped and imprisoned along with 32 others in Zhongli.
The remains of two of the three were found in mountainous areas of Guishan, police said, adding that the investigation is ongoing in the hope of identifying more suspects and victims connected to the extortion ring.
Police have identified the two deceased as a 45-year old woman surnamed Huang (黃) and a 57-year man surnamed Lin (林).
Authorities are still searching for the body of a 38-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), who is believed to have died after falling from the 11th floor of a building.
The two bodies have been moved to a government-run funeral palor in Taoyuan for an autopsy in a bid to determine the cause of the death, police added.
According to one of the freed captives, the suspects pepper sprayed and electrocuted those who were uncooperative or talked to others.
Authorities believe there is a link between the kidnappings in Zhongli and a similar operation uncovered in a raid in New Taipei’s Tamsui on Nov. 2, in which police arrested eight people over the illegal imprisonment and torture of 26 individuals.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel