Taiwan finds 17 missing Vietnamese tourists

CNATaiwan has found 17 people in the missing Vietnamese tourist group. Of these, 5 were arrested on December 28 in New Taipei, and at least 5 have turned themselves in.

Three days ago, Taiwan announced that 152 of the 153 Vietnamese tourists who arrived here over the weekend had disappeared. However, they discovered that one of them was still contactable, and three others had flown back. Therefore, the number of missing tourists is 148.

Among the first Vietnamese arrested were two men (30 and 38 years old) and a 32-year-old woman who were staying at a relative’s house in Chiayi. These people admitted that their purpose of coming here was to work and earn money. They had to spend from 20,000 NTD to 70,000 NTD (15-52 million VND) to buy this tour. After arriving, they left the hotel with the help of relatives and friends living there.

Police said that some people, after leaving, found that things did not go as planned, so they bought tickets to fly back to Vietnam or voluntarily turned themselves in.

Taiwan's National Immigration Agency called on the remaining 131 tourists to proactively present themselves as soon as possible, so as not to be taken advantage of by other criminal groups, as well as put themselves in a more disadvantageous situation.

Currently, the inspectors of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the General Department of Tourism are coordinating with the Departments of Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to inspect the related businesses. The International Holiday Travel Trading Company Limited, which issued visas for this group, had its international travel service business license temporarily suspended to serve the investigation. Two tour companies in Hanoi, Golden Travel and Twin Bright, were also invited to work.