In a first, Taiwan, Belgium join hands in collecting evidence

Taipei, Dec. 27 (CNA) Taiwanese law enforcement authorities worked with their Belgian counterparts for the first time to collect evidence last month as part of an investigation into a drug trafficking case, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

The case involved a package containing 3.29 kilograms of ketamine to be sent to Taiwan, which was discovered by Belgian customs authorities in late 2022, the bureau said in a statement Friday.

The Belgian authorities told the bureau's liaison officer stationed in the Netherlands about the package on Dec. 29, 2022, leading to a formation of a task force in Taiwan, which led to the arrest of three suspects from Jan. 10-13, 2023, according to the statement.

The three suspects were indicted by the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office on April 7, 2023 for violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act and the Smuggling Penalty Act, the bureau said.

The Taoyuan District Court requested legal assistance in the case from Belgium through the Ministry of Justice, and eventually, on Nov. 14, 2024, collected a sample in Brussels of the Category 3 illicit drugs that had been seized by Belgian authorities.

The ketamine sample was taken back to Taiwan on Nov. 16 for testing as evidence in the case, making it the first time the two countries worked together on evidence collection, the bureau said.

According to publicly available court documents, the three suspects were detained during the investigation until May 18, 2023, when the district court granted them their release on bail, citing their confession to their alleged offenses.

No verdict in the case had been announced or found in the government database of court cases as of Friday.