The authorities busted an international smuggling operation in southern Taiwan on Tuesday night, when more than 100kg of amphetamines were found in a cargo of frozen fish in a container waiting to be loaded on a ship bound for Japan.
It was reportedly the first time investigators had found amphetamines in the cavities of frozen tuna.
The drug bust was coordinated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s (MJIB) southern Taiwan mobile office and the Taitung County Coast Guard Administration following tips from informers, an MJIB spokesperson said.
MJIB and coast guard officers, along with personnel from the Kaohsiung Customs Office and the harbor’s police units, converged on a refrigerated container at Kaohsiung Harbor’s No. 63 Pier on Tuesday night, and found 53 frozen tuna inside the container which were marked with colored ribbons, the spokesperson said.
Officers had to work quickly, because the cargo ship was scheduled to depart within days, and it was tough going because they had to work in the minus-35°C 12m-long refrigerated container for five hours.
MJIB officers said it took such a long time because they had to bring in experienced fishmongers to remove the drugs from the fish without damaging the packaging or spilling any of the product.
The officers found between 10kg and 15kg of amphetamines inside each tuna tied with a blue ribbon. In total, 138kg of the drug was confiscated in the raid.
The MJIB spokesperson said drug dealers can fetch a higher price for amphetamines in Japan compared with Taiwan.
According to an investigator, on Taiwan’s black market 1kg of amphetamines is worth about NT$280,000, while it can fetch as much as NT$2 million (US$63,792) in Japan.
He said investigators are trying to locate the owner of the container, and to track down the supplier of the amphetamines and others involved in the international drug smuggling ring.
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