Taiwan gangs test weapons on wildlife

Triads turn forests into shooting ranges

TAIPEI - Members of Taiwan's triads are using wild animals in the island's forests as targets to test their latest weapons - submachine guns obtained from smugglers.

One such gun they have been keen to test has been the powerful German-made MP5.

A ban on the weapon in Taiwan has not deterred smugglers.

Taiwanese triad members wanting to test the firepower of such assault weapons - which are more powerful than the once-popular shotguns and pistols - cannot do so in the cities.

They have therefore made a beeline for the jungles, training their guns on animals such as boars, flying squirrels, wild rabbits, red deer and macaques.

Reporters from Taiwan's China Times Express recently stumbled upon triad members test-firing their new guns in a hilly region in southern Taiwan.

The men were not alarmed when they saw the reporters.

Instead, they calmly told them that what they were doing was common in many woody areas of Taiwan.

They said they did not take the dead animals with them when they left the areas because they did not want to attract attention. They simply left them in the jungles.

Areas popular as 'firing grounds' are mostly located in the central and southern regions, in particular the wooded areas of Hualien, Chiayi and Pingtung counties.

These places have few patrols, and restrictions on outsiders are lax.