Man arrested for smuggling 19 people to Taiwan by fishing boat

Ho Van Duc, 45, faces charges of organizing illegal emigration, they said Sunday.

On August 21, 2023, Duc sailed a fishing vessel with the 19 people, all from northern provinces, to Taiwan, where they had hoped to work illegally.

Upon their arrival in Taiwan, they were discovered by the police, held for two months and deported back to Vietnam.

Duc charged each person over VND200 million (US$8,000), with a down payment of VND40 million.

Duc told the police he had hired by a person in Taiwan to smuggle people in, and got paid VND15 million per person if he managed to take them there.