U.S. woman indicted for smuggling heroin into Taiwan for online fiancé

Taoyuan, Sept. 17 (CNA) An American woman has been indicted in Taiwan after allegedly smuggling heroin from Laos at the request of a man she believed to be the superior of her online fiancé, whom she had never met in person, the Aviation Police Bureau said Wednesday.

A Taiwanese man assigned to collect the drugs was also arrested, the bureau said.

Customs officers at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport discovered 4.237 kilograms of heroin hidden in her luggage in May, with an estimated street value of over NT$30 million (US$998,500), said Chen Po-chuan (陳博全), captain of the bureau's Second Investigation Team, in a joint media interview.

The woman was then transferred to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office on charges of violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, Chen said.

According to Chen, the 50-something had first flown from the United States to Laos, where she obtained the suitcase containing narcotics before traveling via Hong Kong to Taiwan.

She told investigators she met her fiancé online but never in person, and after learning he was jailed, she was contacted by someone claiming to be his superior.

That person allegedly pressured her to send remittances to the fiancé but later offered her a "job" in Laos, covering all expenses and providing daily allowances of several thousand Taiwan dollars.

The woman was eventually instructed to carry the suitcase to Taiwan, though she denied knowing drugs were concealed inside, Chen said.

He added that Aviation police dismissed her claims, citing her inability to identify the man or explain his role, as well as the disproportionate rewards offered for the supposed job. She was arrested on the spot.

Investigators later apprehended a man surnamed Yeh (葉) in Taoyuan's Zhongli District, who insisted he was only picking up the luggage for a friend.

Prosecutors suspect both were acting under the direction of a trafficking ring and indicted them earlier this month.