Taiwan has said it is looking for the owner of a Texas company that makes blueprints for untraceable 3D printed guns who is wanted on an arrest warrant tied to an accusation that he had sex with an underage girl and paid her 500 dollars afterwards.
The National Immigration Agency and Criminal Investigation Bureau confirmed that Cody Wilson was in Taiwan after arriving on the island earlier this month.
Division director Kan Yen-min was quoted by the official Central News Agency as saying the bureau has yet to receive intelligence from the US regarding Mr Wilson, but will continue seeking more information about the case.
Taiwan and the US do not have an extradition treaty but co-operate extensively on legal and security matters.
Austin, Texas, police commander Troy Officer has said that his department is working with national and international law enforcement agencies to find Mr Wilson, whose last known location was Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
Mr Officer said it was unclear why Mr Wilson went to Taiwan, but he is known to travel extensively.
He said before Mr Wilson flew there, a friend of the 16-year-old girl informed Mr Wilson that police were investigating the accusation that he had sex with the youth.
Mr Wilson is identified in the affidavit as the owner of Austin-based Defence Distributed.
After a US federal court barred Mr Wilson from posting the printable gun blueprints online for free last month, he announced he had begun selling them for any amount of money to US customers through his website.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia sued to stop an agreement that the US government reached with Defence Distributed, arguing that the blueprints for how to print plastic guns could be obtained by terrorists and other criminals.