Coast Guard arrests 4 Chinese, seizes over 700 kg of narcotics

Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Monday it detained four Chinese nationals and seized their vessel in a drug bust earlier this month that uncovered more than 700 kilograms of narcotics.

During a Sept. 13 surveillance mission involving the CGA Southern Sector Flotilla, the 4th Offshore Flotilla, and the 11th Coastal Patrol Corps, officers intercepted a fishing vessel flying the Republic of China (Taiwan) flag on the high seas about 128 nautical miles off Cape Maobitou in Pingtung County's Hengchun Township, the CGA said in a press release.

The vessel had switched off its automatic identification system, the CGA said. When ordered to stop for inspection, it sped away, leading to an hour-long chase during which it rammed one of the patrol vessels and zigzagged to evade capture, CGA footage showed.

The ship, identified as the Cambodian-registered YAMA68, was eventually intercepted and boarded. Officers found 48 bags of narcotics in a hidden compartment, including 10 bags of heroin weighing 209.3 kg, 36 bags of cannabis weighing 472.39 kg, one bag of methamphetamine weighing 18.2 kg and one bag of nimetazepam weighing 18.3 kg, according to the CGA.

In total, the haul weighed 718.19 kilograms and had an estimated street value of more than NT$1.5 billion (US$49.6 million) -- enough for nearly 2.5 million doses, it said.

Hsu Che-li (許哲理), deputy head of the CGA's Tainan Reconnaissance Brigade, told CNA the YAMA68 was sailing toward the Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea and was believed to be en route to rendezvous with another vessel to offload the consignment before the drugs were sold in Taiwan.

The captain and three crew members, all Chinese nationals, have been detained on suspicion of violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act. They are being held incommunicado as the Tainan District Prosecutors Office investigates, Hsu said.