Three Taiwanese on trial in HCMC for trafficking 480 kg of drugs

Kuo Yi Hao, 33, and Yeh Chen Chia, 26, were put under trial for a drug trafficking charge.

Huang Yen Sheng, 25, admitted to the HCMC People’s Court that he knew a man named Tuan Huu back in Taiwan, was hired by him, and came to Vietnam to work as a drug mule.

In January 2021 Huu handed over 30 kg of drugs to him in HCMC, and told him to deliver it to Hanoi.

Under Huu’s instructions, Huang split the drugs into smaller bags and hid them inside pig stomachs before placing them among frozen meat to be transported from Hanoi to Cao Bang. He was paid 50 million New Taiwan dollars (US$1,640) by Huu for it.

A month later he transported another 90 kg of drugs to Cao Bang and was paid VND700 million ($29,850).

In March 2021 Huu hired him and Kuo Yi Hao, 33, another of the Taiwanese on trial, to transport 180 kg of drugs from a warehouse in HCMC’s Nha Be District to Hanoi. Huang managed to transport 90 kg to an accomplice of Huu, but the man was arrested before the rest could be delivered.

In May 2021 Huu delivered 180 kg of drugs hidden in motor engines to a warehouse in Nha Be District. But since Huang and an accomplice were in Hanoi at the time, they hired another person to receive the consignment without revealing what it was.

After returning to HCMC, Huang and Kuo took 30 kg from it to deliver to Yeh, the third Taiwanese on trial.

On May 19 Yeh hired a Grab taxi in HCMC to take him to a location to receive the drugs.

With the drugs still in the taxi, Yeh went to meet friends.

The taxi driver suspected he was transporting something illegal, and reported to the police. Officers checked the trunk and found the drugs.

They then searched the warehouse in Nha Be and found the remaining 150 kg.

While prosecutors recommended death sentences for the three men, Yeh’s lawyer argued there had been violations in the prosecution process, and so a further investigation is needed.

The court has accepted his claim.