Suspect in Drug Arrest by KPO and Police: A Drug-Free Lunar New Year Holiday for Taiwan
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- Last updated：2019-01-05
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Suspect in Drug Arrest by KPO and Police:
A Drug-Free Lunar New Year Holidays for Taiwan
Kaohsiung Prosecutors’ Office (“KPO”) prosecutor Cheng Yi-hsiung was recently tipped off that a drug smuggling ring operating in southern Taiwan. This ring allegedly employed drug users or others in desperate financial situations as drug mules, who usually flew to Mainland China to pick up large quantities of drugs and smuggle them back to Taiwan. The ring allegedly offered these individuals up to NT$100,000 or drugs of equivalent value for performing this dangerous and illegal act, thereby violating the Drug Prevention Act.
A joint task force, consisting of members from the Kaohsiung Branch of the Aviation Police Office and the 8th Investigation Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, was formed and supervised by KPO to shut down this drug ring. During its investigation of the ring, the task force became suspicious that a chronic drug user Lee-** might be acting as mule for the ring since he had been travelling to Mainland China with unusual frequency recently and had several girlfriends across the Taiwan Strait even though he did not hold any steady employment that could support the extravagant lifestyle he led. The task force further discovered that Lee flew once again to Hong Kong right before the Taiwan Presidential and Legislative Election in early January. The task force strongly suspected that the drug ring was planning to use Lee to smuggle drugs into Taiwan so as to sell them during the Lunar New Year Holidays in late January.
On January 16, the task force, under KPO’s instruction, detained Lee on suspicion of drug trafficking at Kaohsiung International Airport when he returned from Mainland China around 20:50 local time. Lee’s body was X-rayed at a nearby hospital. These X-rays revealed that 6 condoms stuffed with cocaine (net weight 285.8 grams) were hidden in Lee’s rectum. He was later escorted to KPO for further questioning. With an aim of completely shutting down this drug smuggling ring, the task force is still diligently endeavoring to trace more accomplices and illegal substances of this drug ring. KPO, like the Government of Taiwan, is strongly committed to aggressively combating the illegal drug trade in Taiwan.