TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police detained nine suspects believed to have kidnapped racing pigeons to extort ransoms from their owners, reports said Saturday (June 17).
The key suspect was a man named Chen (陳), 45, with a record of organized crime activities and fraud, the Liberty Times reported. As he was familiar with pigeons and with the mountains of central Taiwan, he recruited local associates to set up nets in valleys and along rivers in the region.
Chen assigned gang members to different tasks, from catching the pigeons to calling the owners to threaten to torture the birds if they did not pay up, police said. He recently hiked the ransom demands to between NT$5,000 (US$163) and NT$20,000 per pigeon.
As the training season for racing pigeons approached, police received information that the gang was about to resume its activities. Investigators linked up with police and prosecutors in Yunlin County to track down the group’s activities.
Police found out that Chen would move around and change his mode of transport, but that he would always visit temples to pray with his woman friend, per the Liberty Times. On June 12, they finally arrested him as he was leaving a temple in Shanhua, Tainan City.
Raids in Miaoli County, Taichung City, Tainan City, and Chiayi City netted eight more suspects, NT$314,700 in cash, heroin, amphetamines, nets to catch the birds, phones, ATM cards, walkie talkies, and pictures of pigeons.
Police estimated that more than 20 bird owners had fallen victim to Chen’s gang, who made more than NT$1 million from their kidnap operations. The Miaoli District Prosecutors Office will handle the case based on charges related to organized crime, money laundering, illegal drugs, and extortion.
