The Investigation Bureau yesterday announced it broke a heroin smuggling case and seized more than 100kg of heroin, marking the biggest heroin smuggling bust in 20 years.
The bureau said it found the drugs in a cargo container transporting frozen taro in Greater Kaohsiung Harbor on Friday morning.
The bureau seized 240kg of ketamine, as well as 103kg of heroin, the bureau said.
According to the bureau’s estimate, the street value of the drugs is about NT$3 billion (US$100 million).
Investigators arrested two suspects, Huang Chih-hsien (黃志賢) and Chen Hsi-chi (陳錫奇).
Chen, a taro merchant in Greater Taichung, owned the taro cargo, while Huang is suspected of handling the illegal drugs, the bureau said.
The bureau added that it is still investigating other possible smugglers.
The bureau said that in the aftermath of a smuggling bust leading to the seizure of 80kg of heroin in August last year, there has been a shortage of heroin in the country, and smugglers have sought to import larger quantities.
The bureau suspects Huang was smuggling heroin manufactured in Myanmar through Vietnam, where it was loaded into cargo containers containing 28 tonnes of frozen taro in 959 bags.
Forty of these bags were tied with red ropes, identifying those containing drugs, the bureau said.
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