Man indicted for smuggling veterinary drugs

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) A man was indicted on Wednesday for violating the Veterinary Drugs Control Act by illegally importing veterinary drugs, according to the Yunlin District Prosecutors Office.

The man, surnamed Lee (李), was arrested in March in a joint operation conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA), local branches of the Coast Guard Administration, as well as local animal and plant disease control departments, the office said.

Authorities seized 1,119 bottles of avian flu vaccines in Chiayi County during the operation, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors began investigating the case after receiving a tip-off, they said.

The investigation showed that Lee ordered 343 boxes each containing 10 bottles of avian flu vaccines and antibodies of waterfowl parvovirus from Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao in February and mislabeled them as cleaning supplies when shipping them to Taiwan.

After purchasing the drugs for NT$550 (US$16.82) per bottle, Lee later sold eight of the boxes to a man surnamed Wu (吳) and another surnamed Yang (楊) for NT$700 per bottle, prosecutors allege.

The authorities have not yet accounted for the remaining bottles of illegally imported drugs, but prosecutors are continuing their investigation, according to a press release from the APHIA issued on Wednesday.

Prosecutors believe that Lee was aware that Taiwan's current epidemic prevention policies prohibited use of avian flu vaccines and waterfowl parvovirus antibody vaccines.

Lee had previously run afoul of the same law, most recently receiving a five-year suspended sentence from the Yunlin District Court in 2021.

The APHIA emphasized that illegally producing, importing or selling veterinary drugs are criminal acts subject to a maximum sentence of seven years and an additional maximum fine of NT$4.5 million (US$137,583).

Moreover, people working in animal husbandry or aquaculture who use unauthorized drugs on their animals may incur penalties of between NT$60,000-300,000. Multiple offenses within one year may result in fines of NT$0.5-2.5 million.