An arrest warrant was issued on January 30 in Taiwan for Yu, the captain of a Yang Ming containership, amid suspicions of drug smuggling. Yu had been detained earlier that week following an inspection of his vessel at the Port of Kaohsiung. Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation has stated its cooperation with authorities, having alerted them to the potential smuggling activities on one of its ships.
The YM Horizon, a 19,100 dwt vessel, had originally loaded cargo in Vietnam and was supposed to stop in Hong Kong before heading to Taiwan. However, it bypassed Hong Kong, arriving directly in Kaohsiung on January 29. This 1,500 TEU ship, built in 2005 and registered in Taiwan, operates within regional Asian services.
The situation escalated when the vessel’s security officer received a tip-off from crewmembers about suspicious items onboard. Yang Ming then reported this information to the authorities. Customs officers boarded the ship upon its arrival in Taiwan and uncovered a significant quantity of heroin, described as being of exceptionally high purity, along with loose heroin and a suspicious white powder.
Following the discovery, the captain was interrogated by the prosecutor’s office, which subsequently sought the arrest warrant from the district court. No other crew members have been detained in connection with the case, which is notable as maritime drug smuggling typically involves older cargo ships. Yang Ming reported that it provided CCTV footage and logs to the prosecutor, while the ship departed Taiwan on February 2, heading for Hong Kong.
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