Illegal cross-border smuggling reaches 413 voyages, direct sea fishing cover to China, 15 people from Lieyu Group sentenced

The Kinmen Investigation Team of the Coast Guard seized a group that has been engaged in illegal cross-strait direct shipping for a long time. The private boat "Jin Zhengpai" was seized and held at a public auction yesterday, and was finally sold for NT$2.65 million. (Photo: Provided by Kinmen Investigation Team)

The Kinmen Investigation Team of the Coast Guard’s Investigation and Prevention Branch uncovered a group that had been engaged in illegal cross-strait direct shipping from Lieyu Township for a long time. The group was involved in illegal direct sailing to Wuyu, Jiaoyu, Weitou Port and other sea areas in Fujian Province, China since 2023, using recreational fishing as a cover. The whole case violated the laws of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. After the relationship regulations were handed over, the Kinmen District Court found that the leading defendant Fang Yanwei was guilty of 82 crimes and sentenced him to four years and three months; another core member Fang's brother was guilty of 77 crimes and was sentenced to five years and five months; the man named Xu in the same case was guilty of 74 crimes and was sentenced to five years and two months. Fifteen people were sentenced in the entire case.

The Kinmen Investigation Team pointed out that in the past, illegal direct flights to China were single cases. This case is the first case of group sex offenders and collective sentencing, and the ship was seized and auctioned at the same time.

The investigation team stated that the case was reported to the Kinmen District Prosecutor's Office in April last year, and a task force was formed together with the Ninth Coast Patrol of the Kinmen and Peng Branch, the Ninth Coast Patrol of the Fleet Branch, and the Criminal Police Brigade of the Kinmen County Police Department. In August of the same year, On March 20, three ships, the "Kim Jung Pai", the "Shunshui Ninety-Nine" and the "Kim Tanji" were seized with search tickets. Twenty-three people, including the mastermind and crew members, were successively arrested and summoned to the case. A total of 21 people and 25 cases were transferred.

Most of the people involved in the case used excuses such as "they were just out fishing and didn't know they had crossed the border" to shirk their responsibilities. The task force dug into the details and used technology to restore the navigation trajectory. They also called up the records of the ships involved in the case and cross-referenced them one by one to expose the suspects' lies and break through their defenses.

In order to prevent the illegal use of criminal tools, the "Kim Jong Pai" personal boat confiscated by the court was entrusted to the Taipei Branch of the Administrative Enforcement Agency of the Ministry of Justice to conduct its first public auction yesterday. The starting bid was 1.65 million yuan. Three groups made a total of 24 bids, and the final bid was 2.65 million yuan.