Law enforcement officials on Saturday said they had captured Lin Hsiao-tao (林孝道), also known as the “King of Pingtung,” one of the three most wanted drug lords in Taiwan.
With Lin’s arrest last month and the dissolution of his alleged criminal ring, police said they expect the amount of illicit drugs being smuggled into the nation to decrease by one-third.
Lin allegedly operated a fleet of ships to smuggle heroin and opium into the nation from Southeast Asia, and ran an international drug-trafficking network that stretched from Taiwan to the “Golden Triangle” region, which borders Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, National Police Agency (NPA) officials said.
Photo: CNA
Investigators at a news conference in Taitung presented a five-minute video showing how police tracked down Lin, as well as footage of the raid on his residence.
NPA Director-General Chen Ja-chin (陳家欽) commended police and narcotic officers for capturing Lin and alleged members, his criminal group.
Taitung Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor Chang Hsiao-wen (張曉雯) said Lin and 11 other members of the ring were in custody.
Chen also displayed seized drugs — 296 bricks of heroin and 26kg of amphetamine — which he said had an estimated street value of NT$1.5 billion (US$49.92 million).
Lin, in his 50s, has allegedly been working with Southeast Asian drug rings for more than two decades and headed up a Taiwanese ring, which operated storage facilities and distribution channels throughout the region, Chen said.
Taitung County police and prosecutors launched an investigation after residents of Taitung’s Daren Township (達仁) on Sept. 20 last year found heroin bricks that had washed ashore.
Police combing the area found 32 bricks, while another 12 bricks were found washed ashore in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿洲).
Police gathered evidence and conducted surveillance, leading to the arrest of several suspected members of Lin’s drug ring, and eventually Lin’s arrest.
Police quoted Lin as saying during questioning that the drugs came from the “Golden Triangle,” as well as Pakistan and Colombia.
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