Two Taiwanese nationals were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle 7 tonnes of Philippine one-peso coins to China for their nickel content, the National Bureau of Investigation said yesterday.
This was the latest in a series of attempts to smuggle coins out of the country so that they could be melted down for their metal, officials said.
The suspects, identified by the last names Lin and Hsin, were arrested during two raids over the weekend in Manila, bureau regional chief Ruel Lasala said.
PHOTO: AFP
About a million flattened coins were seized in the raids, Lasala said.
The two suspects face charges of mutilating Philippine currency, but Lasala said that the investigations were continuing to see if they could be charged with more serious crimes.
The bureau had information that the two Taiwanese individuals may have already smuggled out some 45 tonnes of flattened one-peso coins to China, Lasala added.
The suspects had apparently resorted to flattening the coins so that they could be shipped out of the country as ordinary base metals.
The Customs Bureau seized three shipments consisting of millions of one-peso coins from February to July, the investigation bureau official said.
Lasala said that it was not known whether the two suspects had been involved in the previous attempts to smuggle out coins.
The rising price of nickel has made the metal content of the one-peso coin worth more than its face value, which is about US$0.02.
According to local media reports, the coins are sold in China for US$20 per kilogram.
In an effort to cut down smuggling, the Philippine Central Bank is now minting one-peso coins using a cheaper alloy.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS