Taiwan and the United States have collaborated in cracking the largest ever case of drugs transiting through Taiwan on their way to the U.S., reports Focus Taiwan.
The case came to light when the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) and the Customs Administration were alerted in April that container ships departing from Jakarta with large amounts of kratom would stop at Kaohsiung Port before heading to Los Angeles and Miami.
Drug transit case
Prosecutor Yu Yen-chieh said that one of the containers unloaded at Kaohsiung Port for transshipment was first opened and examined during the April 4 long weekend, and 1,080 cartons of kratom were found.
Customs officers then decided to open another six containers from Indonesia and eventually found a total of 7,535 boxes of kratom weighing nearly 180 metric tons.
Overall, the seized drugs have a street value of over NT$36.3 billion (US$1.187 billion), Yu said.
Combating cross-border drug trafficking
Kratom, a tropical plant that contains a chemical that works like morphine and is highly addictive, is listed in Taiwan as a Category 3 narcotic, according to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office.
People caught manufacturing, transporting or selling a Category 3 narcotic are subject to a jail sentence of at least seven years and may also be fined up to NT$10 million (US$313,427).
At the news conference announcing the drug bust, Premier Chen Chien-jen said he hoped Taiwan and the U.S. could continue to strengthen collaboration on combating cross-border drug trafficking.
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Source: Focus Taiwan
