Taiwan ship captain and crew member indicted in ketamine smuggling case

The captain and crew member of a fishing trawler were indicted on June 20 in Taiwan as suspects in the smuggling of ketamine with an estimated street value of $46.34 million, Report informs referring to TaiwanNews.

A Coast Guard patrol discovered 946.67 kilograms of the class-three drug on the Te Chin Yuan No. 1 near Penghu in February. Wrapping up its investigation Thursday, the Penghu District Prosecutors Office decided to charge the ship’s captain, surnamed Chen, and a crew member surnamed Wu, with breaking the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.

The case started with the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) receiving a tipoff at the start of the year that smugglers were planning to move drugs near Penghu County. A taskforce suspected the Te Chin Yuan No. 1, a small fishing trawler, was involved.

Agents boarded the ship on February 22 and found more than 900 kg of ketamine, sufficient to supply 3.15 million doses. The drugs were packaged in several layers to protect them against the sea water, while the innermost layer was marked as Tie Guan Yin tea leaves.