Police officers raiding an illegal gambling den in Tainan at the weekend stumbled upon two Indonesian men fast asleep at an ironworks. One was on the run from his employer and the other had only a travel visa.
Officers from Tainan City’s third police precinct entered a building near the Yanshui River in Annan District at about 1am on Saturday and found 21 people involved in illegal gambling. Five other people were arrested for operating the gambling den, the Central News Agency reported.
Next door to the gambling den police found two Indonesian men fast asleep inside an ironworks. They were not involved in the illicit gambling activities, but were identified as illegal migrant workers when their documents were checked, The Liberty Times reported.
One ran away from his employer in Taichung two months ago because he was not being offered overtime on top of his NT$23,000 (US$746) monthly wage. He went to Tainan to work as a welder and was able to earn NT$33,000 (US$1,070) a month.
The second man overstayed on his travel visa and worked illegally so he could earn enough money to buy some land back home.
Both were referred to the National Immigration Agency, while the ironworks is expected to be fined by the Ministry of Labor.