According to police officials who have already reviewed cases involving 457 local gangsters, seven in ten are considered “serious gangsters,” while the rest are composed of petty criminals.

Yet the MOI statistics seem to contradict the public’s common perception that the numbers seem underestimated. Although gangsters involved in criminal groups and violent debt-collecting practices usually do not appear in public, in 2005 an estimated 10,000 gangsters dressed in black openly walked the streets to pay their last respects to a reputed mob leader known as “Mosquito Brother,” who died at age 93.

MOI officials said that the distinction between a “serious” and “average” gangster depends on circumstances, but on average there is one gangster for every 10,000 people. Taipei City tops the list with 90 gangsters, followed by Taipei County with 52 gangsters. The southern city of Kaohsiung has listed 49 people since January this year, they said.

However, on a population-adjusted basis, Miaoli and Nantou Counties come with the highest rate of gangsters per capita with a rate of 3.9, compared with 3.4, in Taipei City.

In related news, a woman was cheated yesterday over the phone by someone who was pretending to be calling from the Taipei Prosecutors’ Office. The man asked the victim to remit her savings to a “secret bank account” before her money was blocked during an investigation.

After withdrawing NT$1 million in cash from her bank, the woman walked to the bank mentioned by the impostor, who had stayed on the phone for 2 hours. The man continuously asked questions about the victim’s surroundings and the people she was talking to.

The woman however began to worry, and on her way to the First Commercial Bank on Zhongshan North Rd., she suddenly entered a police station. But because the man was still on the phone listening, she tried to make signs to the police officer on duty at the front desk, who did not understand her at first. The officer reacted when he saw the huge amount of cash that was stuffed in the woman’s handbag.

Finally, it was reported that the woman gave her phone to the policeman, while somebody on the phone asked “Who are you?” The police officer then replied “110” just before the other person hanged up.