Crime and Criminals

Australian woman charged after airport customs finds large quantity of heroin in suitcase

handcuffed suspect led by police
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A 60-year-old Australian woman has been charged for attempting to smuggle nearly 7 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan via Taoyuan International Airport. Taiwan’s Aviation Police Bureau announced today that the woman was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport in December 2023 when customs officers found a package containing 6.926 kilograms of heroin in her suitcase. According to the police press release, customs officers spotted abnormalities in the suitcase during an X-ray inspection of inbound luggage. Customs officers waited until the woman

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Man suspected of deliberately crashing truck into police station: 1 officer dead, 1 injured

investigators after truck crashed into police station
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

A man is suspected of deliberately crashing a stolen truck into a police station, killing one officer and injuring another, before running onto railway tracks and being fatally hit by a train in Keelung City late last night. According to reports, a 34-year-old man, named Jian, stole a truck from the Aodi Fishing Port in Gongliao District. At 10:00 pm, Jian crashed the truck into the Badu Police Station in Nuannuan District at high speed, hitting two police officers. Jian

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Drug syndicate disguises drug mules as monks: Fake monks arrested at airports in Taiwan and Japan

monks costume and drugs as evidence in drug smuggling investigation
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A transnational drug trafficking group disguised drug smugglers as monks in an attempt to thwart airport security, but two of the fake monks have been arrested at airports in Taiwan and Japan. According to an investigation by the Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office, a 25-year-old Taiwanese man named Liu Jingting was recruited by a drug syndicate to smuggle ketamine from Cambodia to Taiwan in September 2023. Liu Jingting was accompanied by two members of the group, Xu and Gao, who acted

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Junior high school student dies after school stabbing: gang-connected killer had a history of violent assault

school gate
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

A 15-year-old student who was brutally stabbed by a fellow student at a New Taipei City high school on Christmas day has died, and serious questions about campus safety have been raised, after it was found that the alleged killer had a history of violence and gang affiliations. According to reports, during the lunchbreak on Monday, December 25, a third-year female student at a junior high school in Tucheng District went to a classroom to chat with another female student.

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Biggest amphetamine smuggling bust in Taiwan history: 1.4 ton drug haul intercepted at Port of Kaohsiung

shipment of amphetamines at Port of Kaohsiung
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Eight people have been arrested in connection with a 1.4 ton haul of amphetamine and ketamine intercepted at the Port of Kaohsiung in what police described as the biggest amphetamine smuggling operation bust in Taiwan’s history. According to information released at a press briefing yesterday, November 15, the Criminal Investigation Bureau received intelligence in February this year that drug traffickers were planning to smuggle a large quantity of drugs using cargo ships berthing at the Port of Kaohsiung. After long-term

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Gang affiliate dead after breaking first rule of gun safety

A man puts a gun to his own head seconds before pulling the trigger and shooting himself accidentally
Stupid Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A man in northern Taiwan died Monday evening after he put a gun he believed to be malfunctioning to his own head before pulling the trigger to demonstrate that it didn’t work. According to reports, the 40-year-old man, named Tsai, was entertaining a friend named Su and two teenage boys in his living room when the accident occured. According to the police investigation, which included video footage from a home security camera, and the testimony of witnesses, Tsai pulled a

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Police seize biggest haul of domestically manufactured meth in Taiwan history

police swat team raids illicit drug factory
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau conducted a two-year-long investigation, culminating in a raid on a drug manufacturing facility in Nantou County that netted the largest single haul of domestically-produced methamphetamine in the country’s history. The investigation was instigated by the Pingtung District Prosecutor’s Office, and involved the joint efforts of a team from Taichung City, Changhua City, and Kaohsiung City police departments. According to the investigation, a 32-year-old man, named Lee, financed the operation. Lee employed a 30-year-old man, named Lu,

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Man sentenced to death for arson attack that left 8 of his family members dead

Hsinchu District Court
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A man who was found guilty of setting fire to his family’s business and residence, resulting in the death of eight people, was sentenced to death by the Hsinchu District Court today, September 28. [See previous story: 8 family members dead after arson attack in Hsinchu City] The prosecutor told the court that Chen Yanxiang had financial problems due to the accumulation of debts, and had often quarreled with his parents over housework issues. At around 9:40 pm on June

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Amphetamine factory raided in Kaohsiung City

police raid drug making operation in Kaohsiung City
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Police arrested three people after raiding a large-scale amphetamine manufacturing operation in Kaohsiung City that contained enough drug material to make an estimated NT$56 million worth of methamphetamine. According to reports in United Daily News, and Liberty Times, police began an investigation after a tip-off and found that a man, named Zhang rented a shed in an isolated area beside the Qieyu Wetland Park in January this year. Zhang and two other suspects are alleged to have purchased 200,000 cold

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Woman rescued by passersby after suspected random knife attack in Taitung City

men surround armed man who attacked woman with knife
Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

A woman is recovering in hospital after a man followed her out of a convenience store and attacked her with a knife before being subdued by passersby in Taitung City yesterday, Sunday, July 9. According to reports, a 26-year-old woman, named Jiang, walked out of a convenience store on Zhongxing Road, Section 2 at around 12:15 pm. Surveillance footage of the incident showed that the suspect, a 50-year-old man, named Chang, followed Jiang across a zebra crossing before pouncing on

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Murder on the high seas: fishing boat crew 47 days at sea with alleged killer locked in hold

suspected held down during arrest
Marine and Fisheries Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man was arrested when a fishing boat docked in Kaohsiung, 47 days after he is suspected of stabbing a fellow crewman to death on the Taiwanese-flagged vessel while operating in the Indian Ocean. The Criminal Investigation Bureau revealed yesterday, Tuesday, June 20, that an investigation was launched after it was reported that a Vietnamese crew member on the Taiwanese fishing vessel Fengguo No. 616 had stabbed an Indonesian crew member to death during an argument while the ship was

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