Criminal proceedings initiated in case involving the smuggling of 149 Vietnamese citizens to Taiwan.

On May 6th, the Security Investigation Agency (Ministry of Public Security) announced that it had issued a decision to initiate a criminal case.Organizing or facilitating the illegal emigration of individuals to Taiwan.This relates to the case of 149 Vietnamese people who illegally crossed into Taiwan to work between December 21 and 23, 2018.

Four people were charged, arrested, and had their premises searched: Tran Van Danh (30 years old, residing in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City); Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha (35 years old, residing in Ho Chi Minh City); Nguyen Xuan Hung (41 years old, residing in Hanoi); and Vu Nhat Tuan (49 years old, residing in Hanoi).

The fifth suspect, Nguyen Lam Sy (35 years old, Ho Chi Minh City), was released on bail. All five suspects were charged with the crime of "Organizing for others to illegally flee the country."According to Article 349 of the 2015 Penal Code.

The decision to prosecute the aforementioned defendants has been approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Previously, 153 Vietnamese tourists entered Taiwan on December 21 and 23, 2018, in four separate groups. Two days later, 152 of them "disappeared." By the afternoon of December 27, Taiwanese police had apprehended six people; six turned themselves in; and three voluntarily left for the airport to return home.

Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA) announced that 152 people, after being found, will be deported back to Vietnam for violating immigration laws and will be banned from entering Taiwan for a certain period of time.

According to Taiwan's tourism authority, since the Quan Hong visa policy was implemented in November 2015, 566 tourists have "disappeared," including 409 from Vietnam.