A special joint operation by police and immigration officers at Donggang in Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, on Friday evening ended with the arrest of more than 70 foreign workers of Southeast Asian origin, one of whom was later identified as a migrant worker who had been on the run for nine years.
An estimated 900 migrants from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are employed on the Donggang coast, which hosts the second-largest fishing port in Taiwan, the China Times reported over the weekend.
From 6pm to 10pm, the Donggang police chief led a team of 30 officers who together with a special task forces from the Immigration Department intercepted people suspected of being runaway migrant workers or illegal immigrants.
The sweep was touted as aiming to prevent and combat crime, and followed the illegal entry of 20 Vietnamese immigrants noted on August 14. More than 70 migrant workers who did not have or failed to produce proof of their identities were taken away for further investigation.
A 43-year-old Indonesian woman who previously worked legitimately as a caregiver in Taoyuan was arrested for overstaying in Taiwan for more than nine years.
Police heard that she was known for luring legal migrant workers to run away their employers. The woman is be expected to be repatriated.