Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officials yesterday announced the seizure of a fishing boat off the coast of Taoyuan that was carrying more than 154kg of illegal drugs, as well as 69 protected turtles.
Six people were arrested on the Chang Sheng No. 6 (昌盛6號), including a 35-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), who is reportedly the vessel’s captain and was wanted on prior illegal firearm possession charges.
A total of 34kg of amphetamines and 120kg of ephedrine were confiscated, as well as 276kg of an unidentified brown powder and 69 Chinese box and yellow pond turtles, which are protected species, CGA Taipei Reconnaissance Brigade deputy head Chen Tso-lin (陳佐霖) said.
Coast guard officials said they received a tip-off in October last year regarding Chang, who took the Hsinchu County-registered Chang Sheng No. 6 on numerous round trips to Pingtan County in China’s Fujian Province.
Authorities placed surveillance on the vessel, as Chang was suspected of smuggling contraband and other illegal trading activities.
The vessel’s data recorder was turned off on these trips, which contravenes the law, they said.
The surveillance operation indicated that the Chang Sheng No. 6 on Sunday departed from Hsinchu’s Nanliao Fishing Harbor (南寮漁港) before crossing the Taiwan Strait, Chen said.
“An operation was mounted when the vessel made its return voyage, and coast guard officers boarded it on Tuesday about 40 nautical miles [74.1km] off the coast of Taoyuan’s Zhuwei Fishing Harbor (竹圍漁港),” he said.
Chang has allegedly been poaching the protected turtles and smuggling them to China, where they can fetch high prices, but this time the turtles were coming to Taiwan, Chen said.
“We have asked the Council of Agriculture to examine the turtles to see if they carry illnesses or have mutated, which would cause their rejection in China,” Chen said. “The unidentified brown powder has been taken for chemical analysis to discern if it contains ingredients for the production of illegal drugs.”
Additional reporting by CNA
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