Six Taiwanese suspects were arrested last week in Cambodia as part of an international investigation into a drug trafficking ring, which led to the seizure of NT$1.6 billion (US$50.49 million) worth of ketamine that was set to be smuggled into Taiwan, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday in a statement.
The suspected ringleader, a Taiwanese man surnamed Chen (陳), is a chief in the Heavenly Way Alliance, one of Taiwan’s three leading organized crime syndicates, the CIB said.
Chen is also suspected of committing murder following a smuggling related dispute in 2021 and he fled Taiwan that year, CIB said.
Photo copied by CNA
The CIB discovered in March that he was hiding out in Phnom Penh and it sought cooperation with Cambodian authorities and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to investigate, which led the authorities from the three countries to form a special task force, it said.
After long-term surveillance by Cambodian authorities and the DEA, along with information from the CIB, the task force discovered that Chen had Taiwanese accomplices in Phnom Penh helping him coordinate drug trafficking, it said.
Last month, the CIB received the intelligence that the ring was planning to smuggle a large quantity of drugs into Taiwan and the bureau immediately notified Cambodian authorities, the CIB said.
A raid on the drug trafficking organization’s base in Sihanoukville was carried out on Monday last week and two members of the group were arrested, while 789kg of ketamine, worth around NT$1.6 billion, was seized, it said.
The next day, four additional suspects, including Chen, were arrested in their Phnom Penh homes, the CIB said, adding that since there is no extradition treaty between Taiwan and Cambodia, the six Taiwanese suspects would be brought to trial in Cambodia.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS