Taiwan ‘Strongly Protests’ Illegal Drugs Supplier Tag

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) on Wednesday night denied reports that the smuggling of PHP6.8-billion worth of crystal meth or “shabu” originated from Taiwan.

“These allegations are incorrect and inaccurate. We solemnly condemn the irresponsible news report,” the office said in a statement.

After learning the illegal narcotics might have come from Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s Bureau of Customs and relevant law enforcement agencies collected and verified relevant documents and “discovered that the first 500 kilos of shabu found on August 7 was originally from Malaysia, and arrived in the Philippines on June 28 before being seized by the Philippine authorities.”

Citing investigation results from Taiwan BOC, TECO said the second container found with four empty magnetic lifters that was investigated on August 9 was originally shipped from Vietnam, and was transshipped afterward in Kaohsiung before arriving in Manila.

“(The) evidence clearly shows that the seized illegal drugs (shabu) were from other countries and absolutely not from Taiwan,” it said.

TECO urged relevant offices to “make prompt clarifications” regarding the origin of the shabu shipment. “Taiwan is a partner in the war against drugs, not a supplier,” it pointed out.

In the past four years, more than 300 kilos of shabu and about 7,000 kilos of material for producing the substance worth almost PHP2 billion pesos have been seized through the cooperation and intelligence sharing between Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice, Investigation Bureau, and the Philippine authorities such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police, it added.

The latest smuggling is more massive than the PHP6.4 billion drug shipment from China brought inside the country in 2017.

Last Friday, the PDEA seized four empty magnetic lifters from a warehouse in Cavite and expressed concern that the drugs they contained may now be circulating on the streets.

Reports said based on initial information, the illegal drugs came from Taiwan and the syndicate only used Malaysia as transshipment point but an investigation is ongoing. (PNA)