《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Crackdown leads to candidate’s arrest

BAMBOO UNION CONNECTION: China Unification Promotion Party Deputy Chairman Lee Tsung-kuei has been charged with extortion and involvement in organized crime

By Jason Pan / Staff reporter

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Authorities this week arrested 21 suspected gang bosses and hundreds of others with known ties to organized crime syndicates as part of a nationwide crackdown, including China Unification Promotion Party legislator-at-large candidate Lee Tsung-kuei （李宗奎）, who was taken into custody on Thursday.

The pro-China party was founded by former Bamboo Union gang leader Chang An-le （張安樂）, who is better known by his nickname White Wolf.

Lee, the party’s deputy chairman, was apprehended by Criminal Investigation Bureau （CIB） officers in Nantou County and charged with extortion, involvement in organized crime and other offenses.

Despite Lee’s arrest, Chang and other party members held an election rally near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning.

The party is running candidates in major city districts for the Jan. 16 legislative elections, despite speculation that Chang and the party are acting as fronts for the Chinese Communist Party （CCP） and might have received backing and financial support from CCP officials and Chinese business groups, which would be against the law.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that Chang, Lee and other party members have used violence, extortion or other criminal activities to gain votes.

Police records and media reports show Chang and Lee were among the founding members of the Bamboo Union when it began in the late 1950s. The gang was mainly composed of men from Mainlander backgrounds and it reportedly had close ties to the Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） administration during the Martial Law era.

According to a bureau news release yesterday, law enforcement officials have raided more than 1,000 chapters of alleged crime syndicates and places frequented by gangsters.

Ten illegal firearms have been seized and 358 people taken into custody, including 21 major gangsters or “boss figures.”

CIB officials said Lee was arrested and charged with extortion and threats of violence in connection with at least three real-estate disputes.

Police said they believe Lee and his subordinates made at least NT$100 million （US$3.02 million） in illegal activities in the past few years.

The CIB said that Lee’s usual mode of operation was to muscle in on the construction of urban renewal projects involving old buildings, or try to gain control of land title deeds, either by blackmail and threats, with some victims being beaten up by Lee and his followers.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES