Saturday, September 29, 2007

$3 million of heroin smuggled into Taiwan in a hollowed-out Buddha statue shipped from Cambodia

Old heroin smuggling case closed

09/29/2007
By Sofia Wu

Taipei, Sept. 28 (CNA) Keelung customs officials announced the closure of a drug smuggling case Friday in which a large amount of heroin was concealed in the hollowed-out base of a Buddha statue.

The statue was shipped from Cambodia to Keelung in northern Taiwan in March and after a lengthy investigation, two suspects were arrested in August, although the mastermind had already fled to China, customs officials said.

The 15 heroin bricks hidden in the hollowed-out Buddha statue are worth an estimated NT$100 million (US$3.03 million) in street value, market sources said.

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