18 indicted for smuggling 891 kg of ketamine into Taiwan

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) The Taiwan Keelung District Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted 18 people on suspicion of smuggling 891.86 kilograms of ketamine into Taiwan.

In a news release, the prosecutors office said the individuals were charged with violation of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act and the Smuggling Penalty Act.

The office said that upon receiving tip-offs about a plan by drug traffickers to smuggle drugs into Taiwan via the northern coast, it established a task force comprising coast guard officers and police to investigate and monitor suspicious individuals and locations.

On July 8, the task force found a truck carrying 35 sacks of ketamine, a category 3 narcotic in Taiwan, in New Taipei's Wanli District.

The driver, individuals conducting the transport and porters were arrested at the scene, and 891.85 kg of ketamine with a purity of 83.9 percent was seized, according to the release.

The task force later arrested a man surnamed Lai (賴), who steered a fishing boat that smuggled the narcotics to Taiwan's shore, at Yilan County's Dong-Ao Fishing Harbor and seized the fishing boat, the release said.

Eventually, the task force traced down the leader of the smuggling operation, a man surnamed Tsao (曹), according to the release.

The 18 individuals have since been detained incommunicado, as requested by the prosecution and granted by the court.