[Donlupedron]

Jun 22, 2010
122 held in Taiwan-China raids

TAIPEI - TAIWAN and China have arrested a total of 122 people on charges of phone fraud in the largest ever joint police operation carried out by the two sides, law enforcers on the island said. The two sides together mobilised more than 1,000 officers for raids launched simultaneously against a number of criminal groups in Taiwan and China on Monday, Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau said in a statement.

'The joint operation has set a new example for the two sides' efforts to crack down on crimes,' the bureau said, adding Taiwan police arrested 66 suspects from various gangs, while their Chinese counterparts rounded up 56. The arrest of the suspects came as greater interaction between Taiwan and China has also made illegal cooperation across the Taiwan Strait easier.

According to the statement, criminals in Taiwan call people in China and trick their victims into revealing their ID and bank account numbers, which they then use to empty the accounts. Similarly, Chinese criminals target people in Taiwan, thinking the fraud is harder to detect than if they made domestic calls. The bureau said criminal groups managed to con more than 1,300 people out of at least US$47 million. -- AFP