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.
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