‘Masterminds’ in Thailand-Taiwan cannabis buds smuggling case arrested

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) The two “masterminds” of a criminal operation to smuggle cannabis buds from Thailand into Taiwan through the postal system and eight other suspects are under investigation, a Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officer said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference, the CIB’s 3rd Investigation Corps Captain Chang Wen-yuan (張文源) said the bureau received a report from the Customs Administration in July about a cross-border drug smuggling case as a result of which the two agencies started to cooperate.

Shortly thereafter, a batch of international packages labeled “Thai tea” in Taoyuan were found to contain 62.1 kilograms of cannabis buds, with a street value of NT$130 million (US$4.07 million).

The agencies asked the Taipei District Prosecutors Office to launch an investigation into the case, and a law enforcement task force arrested several suspects in early July, including the receiver of the packages surnamed Lin (林), a driver surnamed Yang (楊), a contact surnamed Chen (陳) and a person who helped transport the drugs surnamed Tsung (宗), Chang said.

The police later determined that the smuggling was being conducted by local criminal gangs and were transited by multiple gang members to foil any investigation, Chang said.

Once the police identified the locations and methods used by the gangs to deliver the drugs a second raid was conducted on July 25, during which the alleged masterminds behind the criminal enterprise were arrested, a 26-year-old man surnamed Mu (母) and a 21-year-old man surnamed Ku (古) from the Bamboo Union and Four Seas Gang, two of Taiwan’s most notorious criminal gangs, Chang said.

Prosecutors are investigating the case in accordance with the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act and Organized Crime Prevention Act, Chang added.

Under the provisions of the act, marijuana is listed as a Category 2 drug in Taiwan.