5 Thai nationals indicted for smuggling over 20kg marijuana into Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Five Thai nationals were recently indicted by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office for attempting to smuggle 20.28 kilograms of marijuana into Taiwan in violation of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, according to the Aviation Police Bureau at a press conference Wednesday.

Police officers and customs officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport found marijuana in checked luggage belonging to four different Thai passengers arriving on different flights on Oct. 6 at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 of the country's main air hub, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters.

In addition to the four suspects, a fifth man who is believed to have been monitoring the transport of the marijuana, was arrested on Oct. 7 at the airport shortly before boarding a flight out of the country, according to Chang.

All five know each other but traveled to Taiwan on different flights as tourists so they would have a better chance of not being detected by the authorities, Chang said.