A French man has been arrested for allegedly trafficking and selling drugs in Taiwan, investigators said on Monday.
Based on an informant’s tip, investigators caught the suspect handing a backpack to a Taiwanese man on Thursday last week that contained 1.5kg of heroin worth about NT$60 million (US$1.99 million), according to the Bureau of Investigation.
The bureau identified the Frenchman as Eric Jacobs, saying that he lives and teaches English in Thailand, and frequently travels around Southeast Asia.
Investigators confiscated the backpack when they arrested the Taiwanese man near the Taipei Railway Station that same day, the bureau said, adding that they then tracked down Jacobs and seized US$10,000 he had on his person that they suspect was payment for the drugs.
Both men have been handed over to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and are being held in custody without bail after a court agreed to prosecutors’ request to detain them, the bureau said.
According to investigators, international drug trafficking rings have in recent years recruited more backpackers from Europe and the US to smuggle drugs into the country, taking advantage of the generally positive profiles people of those nationalities have with border control and customs units.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
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