Kaohsiung court sentences 7 over attempted human smuggling

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) The Kaohsiung District Court has sentenced seven individuals over a failed attempt to smuggle 20 Taiwanese nationals out of the country aboard a fishing vessel last year.

According to the court ruling released May 1, a man surnamed Tu (杜) was sentenced to three years and 10 months for financing the operation involving a boat named Haiyu No. 9 (海淯九號).

The court said Tu wired NT$400,000 (US$13,209) to the boat's owner, who was unaware of the intended criminal activity, and equipped it for the illegal voyage.

Another man, surnamed Tseng (曾), was sentenced to three years for arranging payments to the crew and commissioning modifications to hide the human cargo in a sealed compartment.

The captain of the vessel during the illegal voyage, Yeh (葉), received two years and two months in prison, while crew members Miao (苗) and Hung (洪) each received two-year terms.

Two other defendants, Tsai (蔡) and Huang (黃), who assisted with temporarily sheltering the smuggled individuals, received sentences of 20 months and 19 months.

The court's ruling can be appealed.

According to the court, the Haiyu No. 9 was stopped by Taiwan's Coast Guard in August 2024 near the Port of Kaohsiung, where officers heard cries for help coming from the boat.

A search revealed 20 Taiwanese nationals -- 18 men and two women -- hidden inside an airtight compartment that had become "unbearable" to the occupants due to its small size, despite the installation of oxygen-supplying equipment.

The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office later determined that 18 of the individuals had been banned from leaving the country over fraud cases, and the remaining two were wanted by law enforcement.

Prosecutors said all 20 were taken into custody or returned to face investigation.