Snakehead behind human trafficking of Taiwanese in Cambodia arrested

在柬埔寨販賣台灣人後面的人蛇首腦被逮捕

Bamboo Union gangster arrested for role in Cambodia human trafficking scam


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police on Sunday (Aug. 14) arrested a man who is a suspected member of a snakehead ring behind a human trafficking scam that lured Taiwanese to Cambodia.

At 9:55 p.m. on Sunday, six men and three women between the ages of 23 and 42, arrived at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport aboard China Airlines Flight CI-836 from Bangkok, Thailand. Initially, Taiwanese media reported that all nine were victims of a scheme in which they were offered high wages for various positions in Cambodia on social media job postings, only to have their passports seized by trafficking ring operators and forced to engage in telecom scams.

However, one of the returnees wearing a gray sweatshirt and carrying a black bag could be seen with his head tilted down as he arrived at the Taoyuan airport at the front of the line. On Monday (Aug. 15), he was identified as a 42-year-old resident of New Taipei City with the surname Ho (何) and is believed to be a member of the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫), the largest of Taiwan's three main criminal triads, reported CNA.

Ho is suspected of violating Article 297 of the criminal code (刑法) with intent to profit by defrauding people who went abroad and breaching the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) for being involved in organized crime. In addition, he is suspected of violating Article 32 of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act (人口販運防制法) for using coercion and other methods to force people to engage in illegal labor.

As prosecutors believe Ho is a flight risk, the court granted permission to keep him in custody. According to a Criminal Investigation Bureau press release issued on Sunday, four cases of transnational human trafficking have been tied to the Bamboo Union and six suspects have been detained.

On Sunday, 12 Taiwanese nationals, including eight men and four women, were intercepted at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok claiming to be bound for Myanmar. However, after being questioned, nine were persuaded to return to Taiwan, while the other three have been detained in Thailand on suspicion of being involved in the human trafficking ring and face extradition to Taiwan, reported SET News.