Authorities yesterday arrested six Taiwanese suspected of involvement in an international drug-smuggling ring, accusing them of attempting to send amphetamines to Japan hidden in canned fruit.
After being questioned by prosecutors, the six were placed in detention pending charges according to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said the operation was allegedly headed by Tsang Yen-tung (臧炎通), 61.
The group allegedly tried to export 108 cans labeled as containing Yujin mangoes, a premium export from Tainan’s Yujin District (玉井).
CIB Tainan Office deputy chief Lee Ming-yin (李明印) said that Tsang is of Taiwanese-Japanese parentage, is a Japanese citizen and is suspected of having connections to the Japanese yakuza.
“Taiwanese underworld gangsters have long wanted to engage in drug-smuggling to Japan, because they can make 10 times the profit on sales of illegal drugs in the Japanese market compared with Taiwan,” Lee said. “They are willing to take the risk for the high profits.”
The cans were put in nine cartons and delivered to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday last week, prosecutors said.
CIB officials said they placed Tsang and his alleged associates under surveillance after a tip-off.
Upon intercepting the shipment, officials found 20kg of amphetamine packed in pouches with an estimated street value in Japan of NT$44.61 million (US$1.38 million).
Lee said that officials arrested two men at the airport — surnamed Lee (李) and Lan (藍) — who prosecutors said were members of Tsang’s gang and were to accompany the shipment.
Police and CIB officials apprehended Tsang and three others in New Taipei City.
Investigators were trying to determine where the amphetamines were produced and the supply route, adding that they have opened up channels of cooperation with counterparts in Japan to crack down on drug-smuggling operations.
Eight regional drug rings in Japan connected to the yakuza had placed orders with Tsang’s gang, prosecutors said, adding that Japanese police would conduct an investigation at their end.
Tainan residents and local government officials condemned the gang over its alleged use of Yujin mangoes to smuggle drugs, because the name is popular with Japanese consumers and is an important source of export revenue for fruit farmers.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai