Spain extradites 94 Taiwanese to China on phone scam charges

A group of 94 Taiwanese accused of telephone and online fraud arrived at Beijing airport Friday after being extradited from Spain, Chinese authorities said. Footage on state broadcaster CCTV showed uniformed officers escorting them off the chartered China Eastern plane one-by-one.

The extraditions stem from a 2016 investigation into Spain-based operations targeting victims in China. Police from both countries raided 13 operations in Madrid, Barcelona and other locations, the Chinese Public Security Ministry said. The amount of money involved totalled 120 million yuan ($17 million), the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Similar scams operate from several countries and usually prey on Chinese. The callers typically masquerade as Chinese authorities and pressure or persuade the victims to transfer money to the scammers' accounts. Spain has extradited 225 suspects to date, including 218 Taiwanese. Taiwan has protested the extraditions in the past, saying the accused should be sent to Taiwan, not China.