VZCZCXRO0335
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #1400 1110853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210853Z APR 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9832
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5104
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9260
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6305
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5172
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0071
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1213

UNCLAS TAIPEI 001400 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PD AND EAP/TC 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR TW KS KCRM
SUBJECT: Police Raids Human Trafficking Ring in Southern Taiwan 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Working on a tip, on April 19 the Kaohsiung criminal police 
raided a human trafficking ring that had arranged for Chinese women 
to enter into Taiwan by means of sham marriages.  The "brides" were 
actually coming to work in the sex trade.  The police arrested the 
head of the trafficking ring, Wu Hong-meng (Chinese Telegraph code 
0702 7703 1322), Wu's Chinese wife, five other members of the 
trafficking ring, and seven PRC women who had been brought to Taiwan 
by the ring. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Kaohsiung Police had been conducting surveillance on Wu 
and his organization since December of last year.  According to the 
police, the seven Chinese women entered sham marriages with 
Taiwanese men and came to Taiwan in late 2005 and early 2006.  After 
their arrest, the seven Chinese women told the Police that they were 
aware before they came to Taiwan that they were destined for the sex 
trade.  According to the police, Wu has brought at least twenty 
other PRC women to Taiwan to engage in prostitution.  Local Police 
suspect that Wu is cooperating with mainland Chinese gangsters to 
run the trafficking ring. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Prosecutor Wu Hsieh-chan said that the "husbands" would 
be charged with "uttering a false public document," which carries a 
maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.  Due to their 
cooperation, the women will not likely be prosecuted for 
prostitution, but rather processed for deportation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Comment.  Charging the "husbands" under the public 
document statutes is an important departure from previous practice. 
Generally, charges are filed under the marriage statutes, which 
carry a maximum penalty of not more than three years.  Since all 
sentences of three years or less are converted to fines, usually at 
the rate of one thousand NT Dollars(U.S. $31.75) per year, the 
charges do little to deter fraudulent marriages.  Using the public 
document charge, perpetrators face the prospect of jail time, which 
may help Taiwan authorities get a handle on the problem.  End 
Comment. 
 
 
Thiele 
 
Young