TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Penghu Coast Guard said on Tuesday (Nov. 19) that a shipment of marijuana worth NT$1.1 billion (US$33.92 million) was intercepted entering Taiwan in September.
The Coast Guard said it received a tip that drugs were being smuggled through the Penghu Islands on their way to Taiwan during the Mid-Autumn Festival, per CNA. It said after two months of investigation, the marijuana was uncovered and eight people including a Penhgu-based man surnamed Chen (陳) and a Taiwan-based man surnamed Kei (柯) were arrested.
The Coast Guard said Kei and Chen devised the plan to ship the marijuana to Taiwan using Penghu as a waypoint. They said associates received marijuana from a Chinese fishing boat near Pingtung and unloaded it in Penghu on Sept. 11.
Members of the Coast Guard seized the drugs and arrested the men as they were unloading. They said 687 kilograms of marijuana in large bags containing 1,041 packages were seized, which prosecutors said would be enough to roll marijuana cigarettes for 1.2 million people.
The Coast Guard said Kei and Chen along with six others have been arrested and charged with drug trafficking.
Those found guilty of manufacturing, transporting, or selling marijuana can be sentenced to life imprisonment and fined up to NT$15 million (US$469,373) under Taiwan law. The law places marijuana in the same class as fentanyl and methamphetamine.
