TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Aviation Police Bureau detained four suspects for trying to smuggle drugs inside lamps to New York City, but the chief suspect is out of reach, reports said Thursday (Dec. 14).
On Aug. 2, inspectors used X-rays to investigate a shipment of lamps at the United Parcel Service (UPS) facility at Taoyuan International Airport, per CNA. The lighting equipment, destined for New York, turned out to contain 960 tablets of the class-four drug Erimin.
The substance, also known as Nimetazepam, was at first used to treat severe insomnia, but its potential for misuse led to its classification as a drug. The investigation showed that a 34-year-old woman surnamed Cheng (鄭) was managing the operation from overseas.
Cheng, who had convictions for drug-related cases, had asked a man named Chen (陳) to send the package to New York. However, he was unaware of its hidden content, police said.
Investigators found Lu (陸), 30, and Chuang (莊), 42, at an address in Taipei City’s Wanhua District rented by Cheng. They also detained Chen (陳), 31, and Lee (李), 32, as accomplices.
All four had been convicted of drug-related crimes, while Chuang was listed by prosecutors in Taipei and Keelung as a fugitive facing a 14-year prison sentence for drugs. None of the detainees were willing to reveal the origin of the Erimin they were sending to Cheng in the United States.