CHINA: 2 TO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS TO TAIWAN

A Chinese court has sentenced 2 people to death for attempting to smuggle 400 kilograms of methamphetamine by sea from Southeast Asia to Taiwan, state media reported on 12 January 2022.
Ten other people with the same smuggling ring were handed between 10 years and life in prison over the “extraordinarily large” operation, China News Service said.
Chinese and foreign trafficking gangs operating out of China’s southeastern coastal province of Fujian arranged for fishermen to smuggle the contraband in December 2020, according to the report.
The verdict by the court in Fujian was announced in “recent days”, China News Service said, citing local police.
Fujian, which lies about 160 kilometres from Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait, has a long history of smuggling migrants and goods overseas through organised networks.
A total of 20 suspects were arrested over the smuggling operation and the 400 kilograms of meth seized along with a ship, the report said, citing an unnamed coastguard official.