TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In an operation targeting a fraud ring, police in Peru arrested six Taiwanese and two Peruvians while freeing dozens of Malaysians and one Taiwanese who had been trafficked into the country, reports said Tuesday (Oct. 10).
The Latin American country’s Ministry of Interior said a raid in the La Molina neighborhood of the capital Lima on Oct. 7 uncovered a scam operation run by a crime group it named as the “Red Dragon from Taiwan.” The suspects were accused of people trafficking, labor exploitation, and extortion.
The raid also found 43 citizens of Malaysia and one woman from Taiwan who had been held in a compound against their will, CNA reported. They had been lured to Peru with the promise of work at casinos.
The group first traveled to Amsterdam in the Netherlands before continuing to South America last September. However, as soon as they arrived, they had been forced to give up their passports and were prevented from contacting relatives back home.
The group were forced to pose as bank employees, police officers or justice officials while making phone calls to companies in Malaysia and Taiwan to demand money, the Guardian reported. They worked at night, and received only one meal per day.
The operation came to light when two women managed to escape and alert the police. The raid also led to the seizure of US$10,000 (NT$321,000), and dozens of phones and credit cards at the headquarters of the scam ring.
