The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office has indicted a coast guard sergeant, a fishing boat owner and his son, as well as 11 other people, for allegedly smuggling mushrooms from China.
A Taichung-based suspect surnamed Yeh (葉) allegedly asked fishing boat owner Tsai Ching-lung (蔡慶龍) and his son, Tsai Chin-shu (蔡金樹), to smuggle the mushrooms to Taiwan.
Yeh promised them NT$500 per kilogram of mushrooms, Tsai Ching-lung said, adding that in December 2016 he agreed to pay coast guard sergeant Chien Chang-hung (簡昌弘) NT$30,000 for each shipment he helped cover, prosecutors said.
Chien, who demanded to be paid up-front, citing loans he needed to repay, leaked information about patrol hours and the locations of mobile and stationary units to Tsai Ching-lung, the prosecutors said.
After ascertaining that Chien would be on duty the day the shipment arrived, Yeh purchased 346 boxes, or 3,346kg, of mushrooms and loaded them onto boats owned by Tsai Ching-lung at sea, they said.
When the shipment arrived at Wuci Harbor (梧棲) on Dec. 26, 2016, Chien allegedly boarded the ship and told the accompanying junior officer, surnamed Pang (龐), that making a visual sweep of the deck was sufficient and there was no need to enter the cabin, the prosecutors said. The suspects were arrested two days later by a coast guard patrol as they allegedly tried to move the contraband out of the harbor.
Chien in May last year also allegedly helped cover for another smuggling attempt involving mushrooms and betel nuts, the prosecutors said. That operation was headed by two men, surnamed Chen (陳) and Lin (林), they said, adding that Tsai Ching-lung also tried to help move the smuggled cargo.
The smugglers allegedly tried to move the cargo out of the harbor on May 16 last year, and Chien attempted to clear the patrols by treating them to snacks, the office said.
Assuming that a sergeant surnamed Chang (張) and another coast guard member had left the compound, as he did not see them among the patrols, Chien told the smugglers to move the cargo, leading to Tsai Ching-lung’s capture with the contraband.
The suspected smugglers implicated Chien during questioning, and when he was summoned to give an affidavit, Chien confessed to the crimes, the office said.
Chien and the Tsais have been charged with breaching the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), while the 11 others face charges under the Smuggling Penalty Act (懲治走私條例).
Additional reporting by CNA
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
RSS