Taipei, Taiwan – On Monday, Taiwan announced the closure of its investigation into the September explosion of pagers in Lebanon that led to a deadly impact on Iran-backed Hezbollah. Taiwanese officials confirmed that neither Taiwanese citizens nor domestic companies were involved in the incident.
The investigation had gained widespread attention after Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took responsibility for the attack during a cabinet meeting. According to these reports, Netanyahu stated that while senior defense officials and political figures had expressed opposition to the operation, he proceeded with the detonation of the pagers.
Initial speculation pointed to the involvement of Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company, after security sources indicated the pagers carried its branding. Gold Apollo, however, maintained that it did not manufacture the devices, a claim supported by the Taiwanese government.
Prosecutors in Taipei, who were tasked with the investigation, revealed that the AR-924 pager model implicated in the Lebanon explosions was manufactured, sold, and shipped by Frontier Group Entity, a company operating outside of Taiwan. Gold Apollo had permitted Frontier to use the Apollo trademark, but this did not imply direct involvement.
“There is no evidence indicating that any domestic manufacturers or individuals were accomplices in the relevant explosions, violating the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, or engaging in other illegal activities,” prosecutors said in their statement. They added, “No concrete evidence of criminal activity has been discovered in this case, nor have any specific individuals been implicated in any criminal activity, following a comprehensive investigation.”
During the probe, authorities questioned Gold Apollo’s president and founder, Hsu Ching-kuang, as well as Teresa Wu, the sole employee of Apollo Systems Ltd. Prosecutors noted that Wu acted as a liaison with Frontier but found no evidence that she had prior knowledge of or participated in any conspiracy related to the explosions.
The statement acknowledged gaps in the investigation, including the true identities of Frontier employees Wu interacted with. One person, identified only as “T,” was believed to be Frontier’s head, while “M” was presumed to be the sales director.
Gold Apollo told Reuters that it had just received the prosecutors’ statement and was not yet in a position to provide further comments.
