Crew sentenced in drugs smuggling case near PratasBy Huang Chia-lin / Staff reporterA joint Taiwan-US operation last year uncovered a drug trafficking case valued at over NT$2 billion (US$62.74 million), with the suspects sentenced recently. Crew members were observed throwing bagged items into the sea, apparently attempting to destroy evidence, they said. The coast guard boarded the vessel, the sources said, adding that 53 bags of suspected drugs were seized and five bags of suspected drug remnants were recovered from the sea. Two Taiwanese men, Yeh Chun-yu and Wang Wei-tse (王偉哲), as well as nine Burmese crew members were arrested, the sources said, adding that methamphetamine and ketamine were recovered. The other eight crew members were convicted as accomplices and each sentenced to three years in prison, after which the foreigners would be deported, it said.

Source: Taipei Times March 28, 2026 17:13 UTC