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Ten kilos of heroin seized by Taiwan's Coast Guard

The Coast Guard Administration announced yesterdy that it seized 11kg of heroin with a market value of more than NT$250 million (US$7.936 million) that was shipped from Myanmar and arrested three suspects.

The three suspects surnamed Liu, Koo and Wu were turned over to the Kaohsiung Prosecutor's Office for further investigation.

Tipped off last December that a drug ring headed by Liu planned to purchase a large amount of heroin from Myammar and sneak it into Taiwan, coast guard officials formed a task force that included police and prosecutors to monitor the situation. After lengthy stakeouts, the task force learned that Liu and Koo were ready to travel to Myanmar to buy the heroin. To facilitate the smuggling operation, they first bought five transformers produced in Taiwan and then exported them to Yangon. Once in the country, the men hid the heroin inside the cumbersome transformers, which they shipped back to Taiwan ostensibly because they were defective and needed to be repaired.

Members of the task force found 16 packages of heroin hidden in the transformers that were shipped back to Taiwan by sea and air to Kaohsiung Harbor and CKS International Airport.

Coast guard officials learned that some heroin was left behind in a Yangon hotel and was to be brought into Taiwan later. They alerted US drug enforcement agents of the situation. Twelve additional packages of heroin which were being prepared for shipment to Taiwan were then seized by Taiwan and US agents.
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