A Taichung man was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of heading an international drug smuggling operation from Taiwan to Japan, the Taichung District Court said in a ruling.
Hsieh Pai-cheng (謝百城) was convicted for directing an operation that involved smuggling narcotics by concealing 340kg of amphetamine inside the rims of car wheels that were shipped to Japan, reportedly worth NT$5.5 billion (US$169.49 million at the current exchange rate).
Hsieh was sentenced to life in prison for contravening Article 4 of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例), which states that offenders who produce, transport or sell category 2 narcotics face a minimum of 10 years in prison to a maximum of life imprisonment.
Photo copied by Chiu Chun-fu, Taipei Times
The judge cited the large amount of amphetamine seized, the tainting of Taiwan’s international image — as the smuggling operation was uncovered by Japanese authorities — and Hsieh’s previous criminal conviction as reasons for handing him the maximum penalty for the offense.
Hsieh allegedly began his plan in 2017, financing the operation and paying six ring members, including a deputy surnamed Yang, to pack amphetamine powder into separate flattened packages and conceal them inside the aluminum rim of car wheels, the ruling said.
Hsieh then allegedly instructed Yang to source the rims in Taiwan, rent a warehouse for the operation, and to arrange shipping with a customs broker firm to “export automotive parts to Japan,” the ruling said.
Meanwhile, Hsieh instructed another aide, surnamed Hsu (徐), to prepare for the smuggling operation in Japan by renting a warehouse at the Port of Nagoya, arrange for the drugs’ transport and storage, and link up with Japanese criminals, it said.
After the preparations, the cargo of “automotive parts” was loaded on a freight ship at the Port of Taichung in September 2018, arriving some weeks later at Nagoya.
Hsieh then paid for the flights of Yang and two other ring members to Nagoya to collect the cargo, carrying the export license and shipping documents, it said.
Someone found out about the smuggling operation and informed the Japanese authorities, who carried out a raid on Oct. 4.
The authorities apprehended Hsu and two other Taiwanese who were opening amphetamine pouches at a warehouse in Nagoya.
Yang, who was not in the warehouse at the time, fled to Taiwan the next day and conferred with Hsieh. The two men fled to Vietnam to evade Taiwanese authorities.
After two years in Vietnam, Yang returned to Taiwan in 2020 and was arrested when he went back to his family residence in Changhua City, as Japanese authorities had informed Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau about the smuggling case and issued a wanted bulletin for those involved.
The bureau tracked down and arrested Hsieh in August last year, leading to his prosecution and conviction.
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