One Taiwanese, 4 Thai nationals indicted for smuggling heroin into Taiwan

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) One Taiwanese and four Thai nationals, involved in an international drug cartel, were indicted for smuggling heroin into Taiwan, aviation police said in a press release Wednesday.

According to the Aviation Police Bureau (APB), the four ethnic Mon people from Thailand entered Taiwan in December last year as tourists, carrying 36.644 kilograms of heroin valued at over NT$100 million (US$3.1 million).

The group, led by a Mon chief surnamed Sae, encouraged fellow tribal members to participate in the operation, offering each 800,000 Thai baht (US$21,900), the APB said in a press release.

Under Sae's instructions, each of the suspects concealed 9kg of drugs inside ethnic-style fabric art in their checked luggage, but two were intercepted by customs officers upon arrival, the APB said.

Sae and an accomplice managed to pass through customs without being stopped. They then traveled to a hotel in Taoyuan, where they were arrested by police and used as a bait to arrest their Taiwanese courier, surnamed Huang (黃).

The APB said the Taiwan Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office informed them recently that all five suspects have been indicted under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.