Kaohsiung prosecutors have indicted three people, including a crew member of a freighter ship, on suspicion of smuggling marijuana into Taiwan.
The suspects, identified by their surnames — Tsai (蔡), Liu (劉) and Lai (賴) — were indicted for suspected contraventions of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), the Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
The office received a tip-off about the scheme toward the end of last year, prompting authorities to set up a special task force to surveil the three individuals, it said.
Photo: Tsai Ching-hua, Taipei Times
In about the middle of December last year, the suspects allegedly planned to have Tsai travel to Thailand to source the marijuana, while Lai took care of shipping the drugs, as he worked on a freighter, prosecutors said.
Liu allegedly handled communications with the Thai supplier and was also in charge of selling the marijuana after it entered the country, prosecutors said.
In early January, Tsai arrived at the Port of Laem Chabang in Thailand with 27 bags of marijuana — as well as other items, including cannabis cigarettes — for Lai to transport, they said.
When the ship docked at the Port of Kaohsiung on Jan. 10, Tsai allegedly went to pick up the merchandise, after which he met up with Liu in a parking lot to unload eight bags of marijuana weighing 1.265kg inside a vehicle, they said.
From there, Tsai allegedly took the remainder in a backpack with the intention of traveling to Chiayi City.
He was arrested that day at the Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Zuoying Station, allegedly carrying 2.173kg of marijuana and other illicit items such as cannabis cigarettes.
Liu and Lai were subsequently arrested for their alleged involvement.
Prosecutors said the seized marijuana was worth about NT$6 million (US$181,609).
All three suspects were detained following a court order.
Cannabis is a Category 2 narcotic, the production, transport or sale of which is punishable by 10 years to life imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$15 million.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS