Taoyuan International Airport

Australian woman sentenced to 16 years in prison for smuggling drugs into Taiwan

suspect flanked by customs police
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

An Australian woman has been sentenced to a 16-year prison term for attempting to enter Taiwan with a large quantity of drugs in her luggage in December last year. Debbie Voulgaris, 57, was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport after customs and immigration officers found 3.8 kilograms of heroin, and 385 grams of cocaine, hidden in her luggage as she attempted to enter the country on December 10, 2023. According to evidence presented to the Taoyuan District Court, Voulgaris picked up

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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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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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Scoot flight lands in Taipei with missing nose wheel

missing nosewheel
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A passenger plane belonging to Singaporean budget airline Scoot landed at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport with one nosewheel missing shortly after midnight today, Monday, June 19. According to reports, Flight TR897 departed Incheon Airport in Korea yesterday evening, and Incheon Airport officials contacted Taoyuan Airport Administration to prepare for a contingency, after tire fragments were found on the runway shortly after the flight took off. TR897 landed in Taiwan without incident at 12:02 am. After the aircraft landed, it was

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Two Eva Air planes damaged after ground handling accident at Taoyuan Airport

Wingtip of Airbuss A321-200 embedded in nose of Boing 777-300R at Taoyuan International Airport
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Two Eva Airways planes were damaged after an Airbus A321-200 under tow collided with a Boeing 777-300R parked on the tarmac, yesterday evening, April 16. Both planes were empty at the time of the accident. According to pictures published by Taiwanese media outlets, the wingtip of the A321 was embedded in the 777’s fuselage under the cockpit. Eva Air confirmed the incident today, April 17, saying that they had suspended the employees responsible for the accident. Eva Air made a

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China Airlines cargo plane aborts flight, makes precautionary emergency landing after engine problem

flight map
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A China Airlines 747 cargo plane circled and dumped fuel before returning to Taoyuan International Airport after reporting an engine problem shortly after take-off today, January 16. China Airlines cargo flight CI-5240 took off from Taoyuan Airport at 11:45 am bound for Anchorage, Alaska. According to a United Daily News report, airport ground crew reported hearing an explosion and seeing flames shoot from the outside right engine of the four-engine plane during take-off. A pilot in another plane waiting for

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8KG of pure heroin smuggled in shipment of Buddha statues from Myanmar

buddha statues and heroin bricks presented as evidence
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Five suspects have been arrested following the discovery of a batch of heroin bricks hidden in a box of Buddha statues at Taoyuan International Airport in July. Aviation police said that the suspects imported a shipment of Buddha statues from Yangon, Myanmar, in May, 2021. However, the goods sat at the airport for a long time before anybody attempted to pick them up and make a customs declaration. Two months later, in July, a man named Liu turned up at

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Unidentified foreigner who tried to stowaway on outbound flight appears in court

mystery man faces court
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

An man who remains unidentified four months after being caught attempting to stowaway on a flight from Taiwan to Palau appeared in court today, but had only one thing to say to the judge. “Dear friend, Jesus is God,” the long-haired, bearded man declared to the judge in fluent Chinese. Other than that statement, and a “thank you,” also spoken in Chinese, “Man A,” as he was referred to during the hearing at the Taoyuan District Court, remained cooperative, but

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Cannabis compressed as “tea cake” intercepted at Taoyuan International Airport

cannabis compressed to resemble pu'er tea
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A Canadian citizen was arrested at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport after customs officials found 20 kilograms of marijuana in his checked baggage, police revealed at a press conference today, January 9. The 40-year-old Chinese Canadian man named Wei (危), was arrested at around 5:00 am, December 28, after an x-ray examination of his luggage raised the suspicions of customs officers. Officers took Wei and his baggage to an examination room where they opened the luggage. The officers found 20 round

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Canadian man arrested attempting to import more than 30kg cannabis at Taoyuan International Airport

cannabis at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A Canadian national was arrested at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport October 30 after being found in possession of more than 30 kilograms of marijuana stored in two suitcases, it was revealed at a press conference today. The suspect, who has not been named in media reports, was intercepted at 5:00am October 30 after an x-ray search of checked baggage from an Eva Air flight arriving from Toronto at terminal 2 raised customs officers’ suspicions. After the suspect, described as being

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Flight at Taoyuan Airport aborted after man spotted clinging to landing gear

police chase man who attempted to stowaway on China Airlines flight
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A China Airlines flight was aborted on the runway after a man ran out of long grass and jumped onto the landing gear as the plane was about to take off this afternoon, November 2. At 1:35pm, flight CI028 from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport to Palau was preparing to take off when the pilot of an Asiana Airlines plane spotted a man running out of the grass and mounting the landing gear of the plane. The Asiana Airlines pilot immediately

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