Four illegal taxicabs seized

Illegal taxi operators, beware!

Law enforcers have been conducting special operations amid complaints over the rampant growth of illegal taxi operators, resulting in the filing of a Superior Court lawsuit that seeks to forfeit at least four cars that were allegedly used illegally as taxicabs.

Assistant attorney general Eric O’Malley asked the court to forfeit in favor of the government four vehicles, including a 2004 Toyota Corolla with license plate ADF-181, 2004 Kia Rio with license plate ABY-024, 2002 Mazda Protégé with license plate ABZ-853, and 2001 Toyota Camry with license plate ABM-669.

The court issued summons to the respondent vehicles, which law enforcers impounded right after conducting sting operations against illegal taxi operators.

O’Malley filed an in rem civil forfeiture action, saying that the vehicles were used in violating CNMI immigration laws and the vehicle code.

He asked the court to give notice to all interested parties to appear and show cause why the forfeiture should not be granted in favor of the government. Some of the four cars have not been fully paid for by their owners.

The complaint stemmed from two batches of sting operations conducted by operatives of the Attorney General’s Investigative Unit and the Department of Public Safety.

In an affidavit, AGIU special projects coordinator Joseph H. Race said the first batch of sting operations, dubbed “Operation Illegal Taxi,” was conducted on May 6, 2005.

Using volunteer witnesses who called up an illegal taxi operator’s telephone number that was posted conspicuously in some establishments, the operatives caught the illegal taxi operators in the act.

The volunteer witnesses called for three illegal taxicabs that would transport them from the Northern Marianas College to Hard Rock Café in Garapan.

The first car, the 2004 gray Toyota Corolla, arrived and transported the witnesses, who paid the taxi driver, Fan Zhe Cui, marked money amounting to $5. Operatives tailed the taxi and blocked the latter after the witnesses alighted. They asked the driver for identification papers, which the latter failed to produce. They recovered from the car a calling card with the markings “ride 12 times and you get $5 phone card,” two hand-held radios, the marked money, and a compact disc left by one of the witnesses.

While Race said that the second car appeared to have been used as an illegal taxi without the owner’s consent; the third vehicle—the Mazda Protégé—came to NMC with its owner, Ji Fu Shen, as the driver.

Operatives conducted the same sting operation and accosted the vehicle’s owner after the witnesses alighted. Besides recovering the marked money paid by witnesses, operatives also took the lipstick left by one of the witnesses from the car.

The second batch of sting operations was conducted on May 13, according to Race. In those operations, volunteer witnesses asked the illegal taxi operators that they be transported from the Dolphin Wholesale department store in San Jose to the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

The first car to arrive was the 2001 Toyota Camry driven by one Jiang Xian Hao, Race said. After conducting the sting operation, operatives reportedly asked Jiang for identification papers, but the driver only had a learner’s permit. They confiscated the marked money, a cellular phone and a CD left by one of the witnesses. Investigation revealed that the car belongs to one Sul Kyung Bong.

Later, the Kia Rio driven by one Min Xiu Jin arrived at Dolphin and picked up volunteer witnesses to transport them to Hyatt. Min also failed to produce identification papers. Operatives recovered the marked money and a lipstick left by one of the witnesses from the car, which turned out to be owned by one Teng Changwen of San Jose.

Right after the sting operations, lawmen took the taxi drivers into custody and impounded the vehicles.