13.2-gram drug bust leads to arrest of 13 migrant workers

Taipei, Nov. 16 (CNA) Police in Chiayi County said Wednesday they have seized 13.2 grams of cannabis and arrested 12 Thai nationals and an Indonesian woman following a monthslong investigation into migrant drug use.

In a statement, police said that all 13 of those arrested were residing in Taiwan illegally.

Police said they had opened an investigation last year after receiving a tip-off about the use of cannabis and amphetamines by migrant workers.

The police said five Thai migrant workers apprehended with 13.2 grams of cannabis in July informed them that they had received the drugs from two Taiwanese nationals.

According to police, three of the five Thai nationals have already been deported while two are currently serving time in a rehab center.

The two Taiwanese nationals, who were arrested at a later date, told authorities that their supplier was Nasuriwong Wasan, a Thai migrant worker residing illegally in Taiwan, police said.

Following a monthlong investigation, officers acting on a tip-off apprehended Wasan's undocumented Indonesian girlfriend on a street in Yulin County's Yuanchang Township on Nov. 6.

Police said they then tracked Wasan down to a house in Yuanchang Township, where the pair were living along with 11 other undocumented Thai migrant workers.

While no controlled substances were found at the residence, Wasan admitted he had been selling drugs in Taiwan for the past two years, according to police.

Prosecutors are now investigating Wasan for violations of the Narcotics Hazard Prevent Act, police said.

Meanwhile, the 12 others apprehended during the course of the investigation are currently awaiting deportation and have been detained at the National Immigration Agency's Chiayi County Service Center, police added.