The Supreme Court upheld the 12.5-year prison sentence for a Chinese smuggler

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Chinese captain convicted of trying to smuggle a large quantity of illegal drugs into Taiwan in 2022 and upheld his 12-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

A man surnamed Lu (陸) was found guilty of attempting to smuggle 842.2 kg of ketamine into Taiwan in violation of the Drug Endangerment Prevention Act (毒品危害防治條例), the Supreme Court’s final ruling stated.

Lu, a Taiwanese accomplice surnamed Shen (沈), and two Chinese crew members surnamed Guo (郭) and Zhou (周) were captured by the Taiwanese Coast Guard about 20 nautical miles (37 km) west of Cieding District (茄萣) in Kaohsiung , on November 25, 2022, as they were heading to smuggle a Category 3 drug into Taiwan.

As Lu’s vessel, a Sierra Leone-registered Aquarius 1, was sailing, it left the scene and zigzagged in open water for about 15 minutes until his vessel was stopped and searched by the coast guard, the ruling said.

Four men were arrested and their illegal cargo was seized by coast guard officers who acted on a tip. During the search, officers also seized a raft, a satellite phone, five smartphones and other tools.

Prosecutors said Shen, who was previously convicted of drug and weapons charges, fled Taiwan by ship in May or June 2022. He was later picked up by the Aquarius 1 in waters near Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County at the behest of a Chinese drug trafficking ring.

Prosecutors said Lu, with Shen and two other crew members aboard, sailed the ship to Thailand for repairs.

On November 11, Lu was ordered by the gang to deliver a shipment of drugs to Taiwan for a fee of NT$700,000 (US$21,572).

They picked up the ketamine from an unknown vessel in the Gulf of Thailand on the night of Nov. 11. As the vessel was sailing for Taiwan on Nov. 25, it was intercepted by the coast guard near Kaohsiung, prosecutors said in the indictment.

The Kaohsiung District Court sentenced Lu to 12 years and six months in prison, while Guo and Zhou received 12 years, three months and 12 years, respectively. Shen received eight years and eight months.

In March, the Kaohsiung Branch of the High Court upheld the lower court’s sentence for Lu while reducing the sentences for the other three: seven years for Guo, 11 years and six months for Zhou and eight years and two months for Shen.