TCGA cracks down Taiwan's first Middle East made drug smuggling organization.
In May last year, the task force including officers of TCGA and NPA tracked down an oil smuggling group. They accidentally discovered that NorthUnion Gang members were using oil barrels as cover to transport drugs across the country. The case was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutor, and the Taipei District court made the verdict in March this year. The eight defendants were sentenced to 3~7 years for attempted second-degree drug smuggling.
The task force officers stated that the gangsters were suspected of trafficking drugs by the same M.O. for a long time. As such, officers analyzed the gangsters’ transportation pattern and found another batch of 40 kilograms drug in an abandoned vehicle in the Taipei Mountain area, and a total of 85 kilograms of the second-class drug methamphetamine was seized.
Based on the content of the suspect s ' communications and drug packaging materials, the officers believed that these drugs did not come from the traditional Golden Triangle region. In order to trace the source of the drugs, TCGA requested the DEA Taipei Office for identification. The DEA confirmed that the drug was manufactured in Middle-East. The DEA also cross-referenced the suspects’ communication data with its database and found that Pakistan criminals were involved in the syndicate. Officers believed that the drug came to Taiwan via Pakistan and its neighboring countries.
This is the first time Taiwan seized drug made in the Middle East region. The task force believes that Taiwanese drug cartels have broken the traditional drug production and transportation routes and begun to cooperate with Middle East drug cartels. In response to this brand new drug industry chain, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office has made a case report, asking the national drug enforcement agencies to take strict precautions.