16 missing Vietnamese, Indonesian migrant workers found in Taichung

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Taichung police have located 16 missing migrant workers from Vietnam and Indonesia in a local residence, including a Vietnamese couple wanted for fraud, the police department said in a statement on Friday.

The group, found early Wednesday morning, consisted of eight individuals from each country who had gone missing for periods ranging from months to two to three years, the Daya Precinct said.

All 16 individuals were questioned then sent to the Central Taiwan Administration Corps under the National Immigration Agency, based on provisions in the Immigration Act, according to the precinct.

The Vietnamese couple wanted for fraud were later handed over to district prosecutors' offices in Taichung and Nantou County, the precinct said, without elaborating.

The case came to light on June 10 after a local resident reported a van suspected of carrying missing migrant workers, though the police did not make it clear why the vehicle was suspicious.

That led the precinct to form a task force to look into the case, it said, and after reviewing CCTV footage, police found many of the missing migrant workers hiding in a vacant traditional three-sided courtyard house in Taichung's Tanzi District and started monitoring their daily routine.

The police took action at 4 a.m. on Wednesday and apprehended the workers around 6 a.m.

Upon further investigation, the police discovered that the Vietnamese couple, who are wanted fugitives in a fraud case, had used fake identities to evade capture.