Wanted Sunflower Movement figure arrested at Taoyuan airport

Taipei, June 5 (CNA) Johanne Liou (劉喬安), who gained fame during the Sunflower Movement student protest in 2014, has been arrested at Taoyuan International Airport after being repatriated from the United States, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Thursday.

Liou was deported by the U.S. from San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday, escorted by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CIB officials from the agency's field offices in the U.S.

Upon arriving at the Taoyuan airport at around 7 p.m. Thursday, she was transferred to the custody of the CIB, whose agents handcuffed Liou and brought her in for questioning.

According to the CIB, Liou will be handed over to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office to face further questioning over her alleged crimes, which are being handled by the office.

Liou is currently wanted by five district prosecutors offices, including in New Taipei, for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes related to cocaine and marijuana, the CIB said in a statement.

The U.S. has also alleged that Liou, who went to America in 2019 with embezzlement charges pending, was involved in getting drugs from the U.S. while there for sale to people in Taiwan's entertainment industry.

Liou's downfall in the U.S. began through a joint action by a CIB task force, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the ERO to apprehend her in a Boston hotel on Jan. 22, 2025.

The arrest of Liou was first made public on ICE's website in early February 2025. It said Liou was arrested for overstaying her visa amid U.S. President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

ICE said its Boston Field Office for ERO had apprehended Liou, a "fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud, drug crimes in Taiwan."

Liou had apparently entered the U.S. lawfully on a temporary visitor visa in May 2019 but failed to depart by her required exit date in August the same year.

Though Liou was supposed to be repatriated by March 2025, she had since filed several appeals in the U.S., delaying her deportation, the CIB said.

Prostitution broker

Liou shot to fame during the Sunflower Movement student protest in 2014 after her looks and revealing attire caught the eyes of Taiwanese media.

Nicknamed the "Sunflower Queen," Liou quickly fell from grace after media coverage soon alleged that she introduced women in Taiwan to a ring that enlisted females for prostitution in the U.S. in 2015.

Her involvement in the suspected cross-border prostitution ring saw her barred from leaving the country a decade ago.

She was later indicted on morality provisions of Taiwan's Criminal Code and eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of brokering Taiwanese women to serve as prostitutes in the U.S. and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

From that point on, she was covered negatively by Taiwan's news media and also allegedly became involved in embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes.

She was put on the wanted list by the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office in 2023 after failing to appear in court.