Police Suspect Spanish Nationals in MRT Graffiti Case|疑被外籍客鎖定 北高捷車廂遭塗鴉

Taipei and Kaohsiung metro cars were vandalized this month with graffiti. Police suspect three Spanish nationals that recently entered Taiwan and have a similar graffiti style. The Spanish artists talked about visiting Taiwan on social media, and police believe they targeted Taiwan's metros.


Graffiti artists tagged this Kaohsiung MRT car with a red, blue and purple design on the 12th. The perpetrators face charges of vandalism and violating public transportation laws. Kaohsiung police suspect three Spanish nationals, all aged 29.

They jumped over the wall and completed three graffiti works in 17 minutes. Afterwards, they jumped back over the wall and took the same route back to their hotel. They left Taiwan on Apr. 14.

Police say it is surprising the suspects were smart enough to take a circuitous route through back alleys, which have fewer surveillance cameras, when they left. The trio is believed to have walked 4 kilometers before getting a cab. They also seemed to be very familiar with their surroundings, as they got out of the cab some distance from their hotel and continued on foot. Police say they have found similar art styles in an online graffiti group along with discussions about visiting Taiwan.

During our investigation, we happened to come across this website. Here, we found discussions about going to Taiwan for graffiti. So, we are making a special point of informing relevant agencies about this.

Police say the graffiti style in Kaohsiung and Taipei is similar. The three suspects entered Taiwan on Apr. 5. Both the Taipei and Kaohsiung MRT were tagged in 2012 as well. Police say Taiwan is not the first place in the world to be targeted by graffiti artists and relevant agencies should be more vigilant.