The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Chinese skipper convicted of trying to smuggle a large stash of illicit drugs into Taiwan in 2022 and upheld his 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
The man, surnamed Lu (陸), was found guilty of trying to smuggle 842.2kg of ketamine into Taiwan in contravention of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例), the final ruling by the Supreme Court said.
Lu, a Taiwanese accomplice surnamed Shen (沈) and two Chinese crew members surnamed Guo (郭) and Zhou (周) were caught by the Taiwanese coast guard about 20 nautical miles (37km) west of Kaohsiung’s Cieding District (茄萣) on Nov. 25, 2022, while on their way to smuggle the Category 3 drug into Taiwan.
Photo: Chang Wen-chuan, Taipei Times
When the ship Lu was sailing, the Sierra Leone-registered Aquarius 1, was first spotted, he sped away from the scene and zigzagged in open waters for about 15 minutes until his vessel was stopped and searched by the coast guard, the ruling said.
The four men were arrested and their illegal cargo was seized by coast guard officers who were acting on a tip. The officers also seized a raft, a satellite telephone, five smartphones and other tools during the search.
Prosecutors said that Shen, who had earlier been convicted of drug-related and illegal use of weapons charges, had in May or June 2022 fled Taiwan by ship. He was then picked up by the Aquarius 1 in waters near Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引) at the instruction of a Chinese drug trafficking ring.
With Shen and the other two crew members aboard, Lu sailed the ship to Thailand to undergo repairs, prosecutors said.
On Nov. 11, Lu was instructed by the ring to deliver a shipment of drugs to Taiwan for a fee of NT$700,000 (US$21,572).
They picked up the ketamine from an unknown vessel in the Gulf of Thailand on the night of Nov. 11. While the vessel was heading to Taiwan on Nov. 25, it was intercepted by the coast guard off Kaohsiung, prosecutors said in their indictment.
The Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Lu to 12 years and six months in prison, while Guo and Zhou received 12 years and three months and 12 years respectively. Shen received eight years and eight months.
In March, the Kaohsiung branch of the High Court upheld the lower court’s sentence for Lu, while reducing the sentences for the other three: seven years for Guo, 11 years and six months for Zhou, and eight years and two months for Shen.
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