12.5-year jail term upheld for Chinese drug smuggler

Taipei, June 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Chinese skipper of his previous conviction for trying to smuggle a large amount of illicit drugs into Taiwan in 2022, upholding his 12.5-year jail sentence.

The Supreme Court decision on June 19 found that the ruling of the Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court against the skipper, surnamed Lu (陸), was not flawed, and upheld its findings.

The Supreme Court's decision was final and cannot be appealed.

According to the ruling, Lu was found guilty of trying to smuggle 842.2 kg of ketamine into Taiwan in 2022 in violation of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.

Lu, a Taiwanese accomplice surnamed Shen (沈) and two Chinese crew members surnamed Guo (郭) and Zhou (周) were caught by Taiwan's Coast Guard some 20 nautical miles west off the coast of Kaohsiung's Cieding District on Nov. 25, 2022 while on their way to smuggling the Category 3 drug into Taiwan.

When the ship Lu was sailing, the Sierra Leone-registered Aquarius 1, was first spotted, he tried to speed away from the scene and zigzagged in open waters for about 15 minutes until his vessel was stopped and searched by the Coast Guard, the ruling said.

The four men were arrested and their illegal cargo was seized by Coast Guard officers who were acting on a tip. The officers also seized a raft, a satellite telephone, five smartphones and other tools during the search.

According to prosecutors, Shen, who had been wanted after being convicted on drug-related and illegal use of weapons charges, fled Taiwan by ship sometime in May or June 2022.

He was then picked up by Aquarius 1 in waters near the Taiwan controlled Dongyin Island at the instruction of a Chinese drug trafficking ring, prosecutors said.

With Shen and the other two crew members aboard, Lu sailed the ship to Thailand to undergo repairs.

On Nov. 11, Lu was then instructed by the ring to deliver a shipment of drugs to Taiwan for a fee of NT$700,000 (US$21,530).

They picked up the 842.2 kg of ketamine from an unknown vessel in the Gulf of Thailand at night on Nov. 11, and while the vessel was heading to Taiwan on Nov. 25 it was intercepted by the Coast Guard off the coast of Kaohsiung, prosecutors said in their indictment.

The Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Lu to 12 years and six months in prison, while Guo and Zhou received 12 years and three months and 12 years, respectively. Shen, the Taiwanese citizen, was given eight years and eight months.

In March 2024, the High Court's Kaohsiung branch decided to uphold the lower court's sentence for Lu, while cutting the sentences for the other three to seven years for Guo, 11 years and six months for Zhou, and eight years and two months for Shen.