Diplomatically isolated Taiwan pulls off its first ever extradition

After being arrested in Bangkok, a Taiwanese man was wanted for allegedly laundering the equivalent of 3 billion baht for online gambling gangs and phone scammers. He was later brought back to Taipei. Kuo Che-min, who was detained in Bangkok on July 27, was transported to Taiwan’s capital Taipei on August 10 and placed under the arrest of prosecutors. At a conference on Friday, Thai Immigration Bureau police confirmed the information. Following the start of their investigation into Kuo’s organization last year, Taiwanese authorities arrested 23 individuals and seized money and property in multiple raids. The organization is charged with managing illicit transactions to launder around NT$2.7 billion (3 billion baht) in foreign currencies. According to media reports, when Kuo used his Cambodian passport to travel between Malaysia and Thailand, Malaysian authorities reportedly noticed something unusual about it and notified Taiwanese detectives about his locations. The situation was brought to the notice of the local immigration police by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, which is the representative office for the island republic in Thailand. According to the Office, Kuo had established businesses in multiple nations to launder money for internet gambling gangs that operated in multiple Asian and European nations, as well as phone fraud groups headquartered in Cambodia. Kuo entered the nation using a Thailand Elite Visa, according to the Immigration Bureau. The suspect was captured by immigration police at a high-end condominium in Bangkok’s Klong San neighborhood, according to the bureau commissioner, Pol Lt Gen Pakphumpiat Sajjaphan. Investigators discovered numerous electronic gadgets that they suspect were used to conduct crimes when they searched the condo.