5 Vietnamese indicted for smuggling, selling drugs to migrant workers

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) Five Vietnamese nationals living in Taiwan were recently indicted for organizing a smuggling ring that sold marijuana, amphetamines and other drugs to migrant workers, the Aviation Police Bureau said Tuesday.

In a call with reporters, Chen Mian-tsung (陳綿宗), head of a cybercrime unit in the bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, said aviation police and customs officials in July started finding packets of marijuana hidden in parcels airmailed from Thailand to certain Vietnamese nationals in Taiwan.

After a joint investigation with the National Immigration Agency, prosecutors in Taoyuan and Hsinchu arrested five Vietnamese suspects, identified one "chief suspect" abroad, and also seized 5 kilograms of marijuana and over NT$140,000 (US$4,318) in cash, Chen said.

According to Chen, the five suspects -- who were all either migrant workers who had left their legal employers, visa overstayers, or students -- typically operated in parts of Taoyuan and Hsinchu with large migrant worker populations.

The crime ring had a "complex division of labor," Chen said.

It used migrant workers to collect arriving drug shipments, obtained amphetamines and drug-laced coffee packets from unknown sources, and used a car to deliver drugs to Vietnamese and Thai workers across northern and central Taiwan.

Chen said the suspects took in "significant profits" from their drug sales, but did not name a dollar amount.

They frequently flaunted their wealth by buying and wearing expensive jewelry and posting photos online of large stacks of cash, he said.

The five suspects, who have denied the allegations against them, were recently indicted by prosecutors in Taoyuan and Hsinchu for violations of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act and the Organized Crime Prevention Act.

In Taiwan, marijuana is classified as a category 2 narcotic, the production, transport or sale of which is punishable by 10 years to life imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$15 million.