Taipei, Oct. 13 (CNA) Over two dozen Thai and Taiwanese nationals have been arrested during a recent raid on the operational base of an international crime ring that was committing telecommunication fraud in central Taiwan against people in Thailand, an official with the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said Friday.

A total of 25 suspects, including 18 Thai and seven Taiwanese, were arrested at an apartment in Miaoli County's Toufen City, CIB official Yang Ju-chiao (楊儒樵) said.

Among them, a 30-year-old Taiwanese suspect surnamed Hung (洪) was identified as the ring leader, Yang said, while six other Taiwanese were employed as interpreters to train the Thai suspects on how to carry out various fraud techniques.

According to the investigator, the group included Thai couples Thanyawan and Natthasit, both of whom chose to join the criminal activity in Taiwan for a 30,000 Baht (US$907.16) monthly salary.

The two even tried to convince their friends and relatives to come to Taiwan to join them in the lucrative work, Yang said.

He noted that among the 18 Thai nationals, a man named Nakthale was a muay thai boxer back in his home country.

The Thai suspects began arriving in Taiwan on Sept. 20. They each underwent some form of training at a discreet location in Taichung before being transferred to the ring's operating base in Miaoli, the CIB official said.

Their job consisted of carrying out telecommunications fraud against people in Thailand.

During the raid, authorities found various telecommunication equipment and instruction manuals at the Miaoli base. The items, which were used to scam their Thai victims, were seized by the police as evidence.

The suspects have all been detained by local authorities pending further investigation, Yang said.

(By Su Mu-chun and Ko Lin)
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