The Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking a life sentence for Yunlin County Councilor Yen Hsu-mao (顏旭懋), who was on Friday indicted for his alleged involvement in smuggling 800kg of amphetamines, estimated to be worth NT$300 million (US$10.2 million).
The office’s indictment said that Yen, elected in 2018 as a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), provided NT$17 million between February and April 2011 to help facilitate the shipment of drugs, which wer obtained from a fishing boat off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島).
Yen had been seeking re-election in November’s local elections, but the DPP’s Yunlin chapter revoked his party membership following the indictment.
Photo: Screengrab from Yen Hsu-mao’s Facebook account
Prosecutors said that authorities seized 204kg of the amphetamines, but 596kg are believed to be held by drug dealers.
Yen was in possession of amphetamines when he was detained in December last year, prosecutors said, adding that if he sold all 800kg at NT$750,000 per kilogram, he would have made an estimated NT$300 million.
Prosecutors said they would seek to confiscate illegal gains made by Yen from the trafficking and would ask the court to sentence him to life in prison and fine him NT$15 million, as he showed no remorse during his time in confinement.
Yen denied his involvement in the trafficking, and allegedly attempted to collude with accomplices to give false statements during the investigation, prosecutors said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in a statement on Friday said that Yen’s arrest shows that a pledge by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also the DPP chairperson, to combat drugs has failed.
It added that Tsai and the DPP should apologize for Yen’s actions.
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