By Eryk Michael Smith / Kaohsiung City Government press release – Nov. 22, 2025.
KAOHSIUNG — The “Moon World” trash dumping suspects are in custody after what the city says was a 48-hour marathon effort. On Saturday at 7:30 pm, officials released a statement saying an illegal waste-dumping ring operating across remote mountain areas of Kaohsiung had been dismantled.
According to police, the group targeted secluded mountain slopes in Yanchao District (燕巢區) and Tianliao District (田寮區) with no visible surveillance cameras, believing they could avoid detection.
The mayor’s office said the Kaohsiung Police Department (高雄市警察局) swiftly established a task force drawing officers from the Criminal Investigation Corps (刑警大隊), Gangshan Precinct (岡山分局), Lunei Precinct (湖內分局), and the National Police Agency’s Seventh Special Police Corps (保七總隊). Nearly 100 officers were deployed to search the affected mountain terrain. Workers from the Environmental Protection Bureau and district-office staff accompanied the cops.
Investigators also activated the city’s “Eagle Eye” (鷹眼小組) surveillance review team, combing through more than 100 camera feeds from surrounding regions. By reconstructing vehicle movements, police identified several large trucks making suspicious nighttime trips into the area.
Within 48 hours, officers traced the vehicles across multiple cities — Kaohsiung (高雄), Taichung (台中), and Tainan (台南) — collecting evidence and coordinating simultaneous arrests. In total, 11 suspects were detained, and police seized seven environmental-service trucks (環保車), one heavy truck, and one passenger car linked to the dumping operation.
Four alleged ringleaders — a father-and-son pair surnamed Lee (李), along with suspects surnamed Shih (施) and Su (蘇) — were ordered into detention after prosecutors from the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office (橋頭地檢署) sought custody. Other participants were released on bail amounts from NT$200,000 to NT$1 million. Authorities say the investigation is continuing, with additional accomplices expected to be identified.
