Published: 2025/9/16 7:31 PM Updated: 2025/9/16 9:12 PM
Chen Guanxun and Zhang Zijia / Comprehensive Report
Last year (2024), at least 3,600 foreign suspects were apprehended in Taiwan, over a third of whom were involved in fraud and drug-related crimes. Some scholars analyze that factors such as easier financial incentives and difficulty in verifying their identities have led domestic criminal gangs to recruit foreigners to commit crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau has recently cracked a series of drug smuggling cases involving Vietnamese nationals, including missing migrant workers.
Police officers conducted a dark search in a mountain factory dormitory and apprehended a shirtless man suspected of drug trafficking. Following the lead, they apprehended an accomplice.
Both suspects were apprehended. Both were Vietnamese migrant workers, but only one had a valid residence permit; the other had been missing for a long time. However, both were now involved in a cross-border drug trafficking operation.
Wu Hanzhong, First Captain of the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Third Investigation Division, stated, “We first arrested the first-level consignee, a migrant worker named Wu, and then traced the source. The second-level consignee, a migrant worker named Wu, had disappeared and was on three wanted warrants.”
The seized biscuit tins contained drugs. Police investigation revealed a drug trafficking ring run by Vietnamese compatriots in Taiwan, who smuggled over 2 kilograms of dried marijuana flowers from Thailand using international express parcels. However, after tracing the source, the suspects were no longer in Taiwan.
In addition to cases of foreign nationals operating as a one-stop operation, the Criminal Investigation Bureau recently cracked a drug trafficking case in which the fillings of biscuits were removed and replaced with drugs. The suspects were also Vietnamese, responsible for receiving the goods in Taiwan. However, police do not rule out the possibility that someone in Taiwan was behind the operation.
LIN,SHU-LI, assistant professor of the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University ,analyzed, “For these migrant workers, I work a long day and my salary might only be NT$24,000. Therefore, the allure of money is naturally greater for them than for the average Taiwanese.”
Among crimes committed by foreigners in Taiwan, fraud and drug-related crimes rank second and third respectively, with at least 1,300 cases reported last year (2024), accounting for over a third of all cases. Many of these crimes involve drivers and deliverymen.
Scholars analyze that domestic criminal groups are also short of workers, and lost migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to being targeted, becoming useless as disposable chopsticks.
Wang Po-chi, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Justice at Ming Chuan University, pointed out, “In the past, because we were very strict in our investigations of drivers, these drivers likely needed additional manpower. Perhaps this was part of the scam ring’s rhetoric, but they likely thought, ‘I’m a lost migrant worker, so getting caught is a big deal. I’ll just go back to my home country.'”
Financial inducements, brainwashing tactics, a lack of legal awareness, and difficulty verifying identities make investigations difficult for the police. These multiple factors have led to foreigners being exploited by criminal gangs to commit crimes in Taiwan, creating public security risks.