French national detained in Taiwan for allegedly smuggling heroin

Kaohsiung, July 15 (CNA) A French national was detained last week for allegedly attempting to smuggle heroin into Taiwan by swallowing 101 capsules containing the drug, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office in Kaohsiung said Wednesday.

The office said in a statement that investigators received intelligence indicating that a drug trafficking ring planned to use a "body packer" to transport narcotics into Taiwan by air.

A joint task force of law enforcement authorities in Kaohsiung then identified the body packer as a French man in his 50s arriving from Thailand and made their way to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan to intercept the man on July 7, the office said.

Though the office did not offer any other details on the information it received or how it was able to pinpoint the French national as the drug mule, Kaohsiung police said the suspect had entered Taiwan four or five times since 2025 from Southeast Asian countries.

Investigators believed he had used the same body-packing method to smuggle drugs on previous trips before being arrested in Taiwan this time.

On this trip, police said, an X-ray examination revealed numerous oval-shaped foreign objects in the man's gastrointestinal tract, confirming he was concealing drugs inside his body.

The suspect was taken by police back to southern Taiwan and admitted to a Kaohsiung hospital, where medical staff monitored him as he expelled all 101 heroin capsules over the course of five days.

Prosecutors said the capsules contained a total of 1,403.8 grams of heroin with an estimated street value of more than NT$20 million (US$683,000).

According to police, each capsule was tightly wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and heat-shrink film and was slightly larger than an AAA battery.

The suspect told investigators he agreed to transport the drugs because he needed money for medical treatment and was promised about US$3,000 for the job, police said.

Following questioning, the Ciaotou prosecutors office sought the suspect's detention on July 12 on suspicion of violating Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act, and the request was approved by the Ciaotou District Court later that day.

Police also warned that so-called "body packing" not only carries severe criminal penalties, but can also be fatal if drug packages rupture inside the digestive tract, potentially causing acute poisoning and shock.

Taiwan's Criminal Code stipulates that people found guilty of smuggling Category One narcotics, such as heroin, face life imprisonment or the death penalty.