Chinese man caught posing as tourist to Taiwan, the smuggles to Vancouver

In the first-ever discovered case of an illegal alien from China using the "small three links" to enter Taiwan posing as a tourist, immigration authorities yesterday detained the suspect and five members of a Taiwan-based human smuggling ring that helped him.Wei Zirui (魏子銳), 19, from China's Fujian Province, was traveling with a tour group last week before he deserted it just one day after arriving in Kinmen on May 14.Accompanied by Taiwanese "snakeheads," or human smugglers and holding a doctored passport, Wei boarded a plane from Kinmen to Taichung while his group reported him missing, prompting Kinmen police and the agency to investigate his whereabouts, the National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday. The snakeheads took Wei from Taichung to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday, where he planned to board a plane bound for his final destination -- Canada.Wei probably thought he was in the clear after landing in Vancouver, immigration officials said. What he didn't know, however, was that Canadian police were waiting for him at the arrival gate.NIA Deputy Director Steve Wu (吳學燕) said yesterday his agency ascertained Wei's whereabouts after poring over security camera footage in Kinmen and contacting authorities there and in Taichung.By the time the agency had figured out Wei was Canada-bound, he was already in the air and the agency scrambled to notify its counterpart in Canada, Wu said."Thanks to sound international cooperation and coordination at home, we were able to crack the first human smuggling case involving the `small three links,'" he said.Wei was put on a plane back to Taipei and taken into custody by Taoyuan County police yesterday.The NIA said Wei had paid the ring US$65,000 to smuggle him to Canada via Taiwan.Asked why his agency failed to apprehend Wei before he boarded the plane for Canada, Wu said Wei's documents seemed valid, making it difficult to track him.Taoyuan District Prosecutor Chang Chun-hui (張春暉) said a Taiwanese named Lin Yi-hung (林怡賜), who bears a slight resemblance to Wei, provided Wei with his passport and other documents.Before handing his passport to Wei, Lin, 19, reported his original passport missing and then provided the authorities with a doctored photograph that combined the facial features of Lin and Wei for the new passport, Chang said.The composite photo obfuscated any dissimilarities between their faces, allowing Wei to use the new passport without raising suspicion, he said, adding that Wei used the fraudulent passport and other documents to secure a Canadian visa.Lin was one of the five arrested.