Polish man sentenced to 17 years for heroin smuggling

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) A Polish national has been sentenced to 17 years and eight months in prison for drug smuggling after he swallowed 105 capsules containing over one kilogram of heroin and flew to Taiwan late last year.

According to a verdict handed down by the Kaohsiung District Court on Monday, the man, surnamed Sikora, arranged with an unknown man in Laos last October to smuggle heroin to Taiwan in return for a payment of US$300.

After receiving 105 capsules containing the drugs at a hotel in Laos last Oct. 27, Sikora swallowed the capsules half an hour before boarding a plane for Kaohsiung International Airport the following day.

Although Sikora made it through immigration and checked into a Kaohsiung hotel, officials from the Coast Guard's Investigation Branch "obtained information" that led to his arrest the following day, the court said.

Sikora was taken from the hotel to an area hospital, where he passed the 105 capsules in his feces. The capsules contained 89.66-percent pure heroin with a weight of 1.04 kilograms, the verdict said.

During his trial, Sikora admitted to acting as a drug mule, but claimed that years ago at a tattoo parlor in the Netherlands, a man had threatened to harm his family if he did not help smuggle drugs.

The court, however, determined that the story was likely fabricated, as the alleged threat had occurred years ago in another country, and Sikora did not report it to police.

In its verdict, the court noted the threat heroin poses to public health, and said Sikora had agreed to smuggle drugs into Taiwan despite knowing the serious legal consequences.

At the same time, it said, Sikora cooperated with investigators and admitted his crime, and none of the drugs he smuggled ultimately made it out onto the market.

On those grounds, the court sentenced Sikora to 17 years and eight months in prison for smuggling a Category 1 narcotic. The verdict can be appealed.