Taiwanese drug manufacturer deported from Philippines after jail term

Taipei, March 11 (CNA) An 80-year-old Taiwanese drug manufacturer originally from New Taipei was deported on Wednesday from the Philippines after completing a prison sentence and escorted back to Taiwan to face a prison sentence stemming from a previous conviction.

The man, surnamed Chang (張), fled Taiwan in October 2016 before his prison sentence became final in a case involving the manufacture of the Category 3 narcotic Phenazepam in Pingtung County.

Chang had earlier been sentenced by the Kaohsiung District Court to five years and six months in prison.

In 2018, agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested Chang in Muntinlupa City -- about 22 kilometers from Manila -- over possession of about three kilograms of methamphetamine worth more than NT$11 million (US$346,411).

After completing his Philippine prison sentence in February, Chang was transferred to a detention facility run by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration while awaiting deportation.

Chang was escorted back to Taiwan on Wednesday afternoon by officers from Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau and liaison officers from Taiwan's Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau stationed in the Philippines.

He will be handed over to prosecutors in Kaohsiung, the agencies said.