A TAIWANESE gang leader who has been on the island’s most wanted list since he fled to the mainland 17 years ago was arrested on arrival at a Taipei airport Saturday, police said.

    Chang An-lo, better known by his nickname “White Wolf,” is a key member of the Bamboo Union — one of Taiwan’s biggest gangs — that’s accused of organized crimes including blackmail, extortion, smuggling and money laundering.

    “Chang An-lo of the Bamboo Union has returned to Taiwan to turn himself in ... the Criminal Investigation Bureau and airport police immediately handcuffed and arrested Chang when he stepped off the plane at Songshan Airport,” police said.

    Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said he was released on bail after close to three hours of questioning.

    Chang, 65, was born on the mainland and moved to Taiwan with his family in 1949. He joined the Bamboo Union as a teenager and gradually climbed his way to the top, according to Taiwanese media.

    He fled Taipei in 1996 after being implicated in blackmail and other cases. While on the mainland, Chang reportedly ran a business and set up an association to advocate for Taiwan’s peaceful unification with the mainland.

    Prosecutors said Chang told them that he returned to Taiwan because he wanted to promote “peaceful unification of China and ‘one country, two systems.’”

    Chang is also known for making public a taped confession of hitmen behind the shooting of Taiwanese American writer Henry Liu in 1984, an incident that had strained Taiwan’s ties with the United States, according to Taiwanese media.

    Chang, who was living in the United States at the time, claimed no involvement in the shooting by two close friends and Bamboo Union members.

    In 1985, Chang was jailed in the United States on drug-smuggling charges. He was deported to Taiwan after serving 10 years in prison. (SD-Agencies)