The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office has indicted an American and a Taiwanese on charges of smuggling 500ml of liquid ketamine from Germany to Taiwan.
Local Chinese-language media firms on Monday reported that a Taipei American School teacher surnamed Cloos in March allegedly conspired with his friend, surnamed Chien (簡), to purchase ketamine worth 1,750 euros (US$1,993.77) from an organized crime group in Germany through the messaging app Signal.
The crime group concealed the substance in a Spree Gin bottle and enlisted an unwitting logistics company to mail it from Berlin to Chien’s residence in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林), reports cited the indictment as saying.
Photo copied by Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
Customs officers at the Leipzig/Halle International Airport in Germany intercepted the drugs on March 27 and alerted Taiwanese authorities of the incident four days later, the prosecutors’ office said.
Police on April 27 arrested Cloos at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport as he was departing the nation, then searched his and Chien’s residences the following day, it said, adding that officials seized the suspects’ computers and phones, and a bag that allegedly contained traces of ketamine.
Conversations recovered from the devices and records on the EZWAY app — which Chien allegedly used to check the status of the package — allowed investigators to piece together the two suspects’ roles in the alleged crime, it said.
The two defendants told investigators they pooled the money to buy ketamine and allegedly used the substance recreationally in the past, the office said.
The two were indicted on charges of attempted transport of Category 3 drugs and smuggling goods, it said.
The Shilin District Court granted a three-month extension for Cloos’ detention after deeming him a significant flight risk, they added.
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