Former esports world champion to be jailed for drug offenses

Taipei, April 27 (CNA) Retired Hong Kong esports player Kurtis Lau Wai-kin (劉偉健) faces a jail sentence of more than four years after Taiwan's Supreme Court recently rejected his appeal against a conviction of trafficking and selling marijuana in the country.

Lau will be imprisoned for four years and two months as the Taiwan High Court ruled in December 2023, according to the Supreme Court verdict made on April 18. A similar ruling was first made by the Taichung District Court in 2022.

Lau was arrested and detained in 2021 for allegedly selling marijuana online after authorities found evidence of him possessing and distributing the Class 2 illegal drug during a raid of his home in New Taipei.

He pled guilty during the detention period and was released by the Taichung District Court on NT$1.5 million bail, according to court documents.

Prior to that incident, Lau was first accused in 2020 of forming a drug ring that had bought 500 marijuana pods for NT$600,000 (US$18,403) from two men, which can lead to a prison sentence of up to two years.

Lau allegedly asked a gang member to hire three other men to sell 200 marijuana pods, agreeing to split the profit. One of the men surnamed Lee (李) then used the messaging app Telegram as a sales channel for the marijuana pods priced at NT$4,500-NT$7,000 each.

On Aug. 9, 2021, officers from the Changhua County Police Department, disguised as buyers, placed a bid to buy 154 marijuana pods for NT$165,000 and then met Lee in Taichung to arrest him and seize the pods.

Lau underwent a forced withdrawal of 40 days that concluded on Jan. 4, 2022, while serving as a whistleblower in exchange for a less severe punishment.

Following further investigation, the Taichung District Prosecutors' Office indicted Lau on six counts related to drug dealing offenses, along with seven other people accused of assisting in the crimes.

Now 31, Lau is better known as "Toyz," the moniker he used in the online computer game League of Legends. He played as the mid-laner and won the World Championship while playing for the esports club Taipei Assassins in 2012, the only time a club from Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Macau achieved this feat.

Following his retirement in late 2015, he began coaching and took up managerial roles for esports teams in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

He has also been active as an internet influencer in Taiwan.

He invested in the hand-shaken drink chain store 19TeaHouse, which began operations in March 2023, and was featured in a boxing complex show titled "The Cage," which drew over 10,000 spectators to Taipei Arena in July of the same year.