The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Thursday said that they had dismantled a cross-border Taiwanese drug trafficking ring and arrested 13 Taiwanese suspects after working with police from the US, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.
South Korean police informed the Taiwanese authorities about the trafficking ring’s activities in April. The 13 arrests were the result of long-term intelligence exchanges with law enforcement authorities from other countries, said), CIB International Criminal Affairs Division head Yang Kuo-sung (楊國松) said.
The suspects were turned over to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly contravening the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) and the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
Photo: Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
More than US$80 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine destined for South Korea, Japan and Malaysia were seized, the bureau said.
After learning that several Taiwanese were traveling to the US to obtain drugs, a special task force was formed. It identified a 28-year-old Taiwanese man surnamed Cheng (鄭), associated with a gang called Thento Union, as a key suspect, the CIB said.
Cheng allegedly formed a drug ring with several other people, including a man surnamed Chen, who smuggled methamphetamine to South Korea and Japan between March and May, the bureau said.
The ring’s members in Los Angeles allegedly dissolved methamphetamine in water and sealed it inside wine bottles, disguising it as commercial red or white wine — a popular item among tourists returning from California — to facilitate transport and evade detection, the bureau said.
Chen was allegedly responsible for coordinating with ring members in the US, who gave the bottles to couriers, it added.
These couriers each carried six bottles in their luggage and flew to South Korea or Japan, where other members of the ring collected the drugs. The couriers returned to Taiwan after delivering the drugs, the bureau said.
The special task force collaborated with US authorities and seized 24 bottles of liquid methamphetamine in May.
Four couriers, who were going to deliver these bottles, were later deported by US authorities and arrested by Taiwanese police upon their arrival in Taiwan.
The ring also allegedly smuggled cocaine to Malaysia, the bureau said.
The special task force conducted six raids in collaboration with authorities from the four countries, the bureau said.
During the raids, South Korean police seized about 5.6kg of methamphetamine, while US authorities seized about 38kg of liquid methamphetamine in 24 bottles, it added.
Malaysian authorities seized 45kg of cocaine from the suspects, the bureau said.
The estimated value of the methamphetamine is about NT$920 million (US$28.8 million), and the cocaine is valued at about NT$1.76 billion, the bureau said.
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