The High Court has ruled on the case of two men who transported narcotics by car, plane and ferry in January last year, upholding the sentence handed down by a lower court to one defendant, while slightly reducing the sentence of the other.
The High Court’s Kaohsiung branch ruled on Tuesday that a defendant surnamed Hsu (許) must serve the seven-year-and-two-month sentence handed down by a lower court, while a second defendant surnamed Chuang (莊) had his six-year-and-two-month sentence reduced to six years.
The High Court’s judgement, prompted by appeals from the defendants, followed a ruling by the Penghu District Court on June 26 last year.
Photo: Taipei Times
The High Court said that a detailed ruling would be published in due course.
The case can still be appealed.
Hsu and Chuang were found guilty of category II narcotics offenses under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
Police discovered around 572g of amphetamines, along with electric measuring scales and a packaging sealing machine, when they conducted searches of Hsu’s residence and vehicle on Jan. 6 last year.
They also found 15 “coffee bags” weighing about 57g in total that contained narcotics.
After being questioned by investigators, Hsu and Chuang were formally taken into investigative detention on Jan. 8 last year.
The Penghu District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Hsu and Chuang on March 4, while the case of a third suspect, a minor surnamed Lu (呂), was transferred to the juvenile court division for a separate trial.
According to the district court, on Jan. 4 last year, Hsu and Lu flew from the island county of Penghu to Kaohsiung to meet up with Chuang, who had taken Hsu’s car to the southern city on the Penghu Ferry.
The three then drove to New Taipei City on the same day and stayed the night at a motel in Linkou District (林口).
The next day, Hsu purchased more than 500g of amphetamines and about 50g of ketamine.
Afterwards, Hsu and Lu flew back to Penghu with some of the narcotics, while Chuang drove the rest back to Kaohsiung, before taking the car ferry back to Penghu, the court said.
Police learned about the plan to purchase and illegally transport the narcotics, because they had been monitoring Hsu’s phone, court documents showed.
Hsu, who financed the drug purchase, had been a suspect in multiple previous drug investigations, the court said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
Many Chinese spouses required to submit proof of having renounced their Chinese household registration have either completed the process or provided affidavits ahead of the June 30 deadline, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Of the 12,146 people required to submit the proof, 5,534 had done so as of Wednesday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. Another 2,572 people who met conditions for exemption or deferral from submitting proof of deregistration — such as those with serious illnesses or injuries — have submitted affidavits instead, he said. “As long as individuals are willing to cooperate with the legal
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
The Ministry of Environment yesterday held a seminar in Taipei for experts from Taiwan and Japan to exchange their experiences on the designs and development of public toilets. Japan Toilet Association chairman Kohei Yamamoto said that he was impressed with the eco-toilet set up at Daan Forest Park, adding that Japan still faces issues regarding public restrooms despite the progress it made over the past decades. For example, an all-gender toilet was set up in Kabukicho in Tokyo’s Shinjuku District several years ago, but it caused a public backlash and was rebuilt into traditional men’s and women’s toilets, he said. Japan Toilet Association
RSS