Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Six Taiwanese men were arrested by Thai police in Bangkok on Friday after they were found hiding drugs in car components that they planned to ship to Taiwan, Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officials said Saturday.
As police in Taiwan were investigating a case involving drugs being sent in parcels by the postal service to Taiwan, they found that the main suspect was in Thailand, Dustin Lee (李泱輯), head of the CIB’s International Criminal Affairs Division, said at a press briefing.
As a result, law enforcement officials from the two countries set up a task force to look into the case further, Lee said.
Yang Kuo-sung (楊國松), another International Criminal Affairs Division official, said that once the cross-border team collected enough evidence, they raided a residential building in Lat Krabang, Bangkok on Friday morning.
They arrested a man surnamed Chen (陳), who was believed to be the head of the drug trafficking gang, and an alleged accomplice at the scene.
The team found 600 grams of amphetamine and around 14 kilograms of cannabis in the apartment they raided, Yang said.
The team also arrested four other suspects, including a Taiwanese man surnamed Tseng (曾), at a building in Bang Na in Bangkok on Friday, and found 17 grams of ketamine, 29 erimin tablets, and a package of drug-laced instant coffee at the scene, Yang said.
According to the police, the drugs Chen and his accomplices were selling had a value of over NT$100 million (US$3.13 million).
Police said they discovered that Chen, who secretly snuck into Southeast Asia before moving to Thailand earlier this year, had previous convictions and was wanted by courts in Taiwan.
Chen formed a drug trafficking gang in Thailand, and hid a huge amount of cannabis and amphetamines in the drive shaft of cars, which they planned to ship to Taiwan, police said.
However, the task force cracked the case before the drugs could be sent across borders.
All six suspects, five of whom have been listed as fugitives by Taiwanese law enforcement authorities, will be put on trial in Thailand and will only be sent back to Taiwan after they have served the sentences handed down by the court, police in Taiwan said.
