Yang Ming Captain Arrested on Suspicion of Drug Smuggling
An arrest warrant was issued late on January 30 in Taiwan for the captain of a Yang Ming containership on suspicion of drug smuggling. The captain, who was only identified by the surname of Yu, had been detained earlier in the week after an inspection of his vessel at the Port of Kaohsiung.
The Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation said it was cooperating with the authorities after alerting them to the suspected smuggling taking place on one of its vessels.
The YM Horizon (19,100 dwt) had loaded in Vietnam and had been scheduled to make a call in Hong Kong before proceeding to Taiwan. It is unclear why, but the vessel skipped the Hong Kong port call and went directly to Kaohsiung, where it arrived on January 29. The vessel, which was built in 2005 and registered in Taiwan, is a smaller, 1,500 TEU vessel used on the regional service in Asia.
The vessel’s security officer became suspicious after receiving a tip-off from crewmembers on the ship regarding “suspicious” items delivered and loaded onto the vessel. Yang Ming passed the information to the authorities for investigation.
Customs officers boarded the ship when it docked in Taiwan, and during the inspection, they discovered bricks of heroin inside the cargo hold. They referenced it as “a large amount” and are saying it is exceptionally high purity. They also found loose heroin wrapped in oil-paper bags as well as a suspicious white powder, reports CNA.
The master of the containership was detained for interrogation by the prosecutor’s office. They later submitted information to the district court seeking the arrest warrant. No other crewmembers have been detained.
Yang Mng reports it provided the CCTC footage from the vessel and logs to the prosecutor. The ship departed Taiwan on Monday, February 2, bound for Hong Kong.
Officials said the case is unusual because maritime drug smuggling has mostly involved older cargo ships.
US Seizes $70k in Unreported Currency from COSCO Bulker
Officials of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized a large amount of unreported cash from a Chinese-owned bulker while it was in the port of Baltimore. While it is not a crime to have the cash aboard the ship, U.S. officials highlighted the reporting requirements while contending the captain of the ship had made the appropriate reports at other U.S. ports.
The incident began simply enough with a routine inspection of the bulker Sheng Ning Hai (56,716 dwt) when it arrived in the Port of Baltimore on January 21. CBP conducted a routine enforcement boarding of the bulker after it reached the port.
CBP highlights that one element of these inspections is for the vessel’s captain to report to CBP officers how much currency the vessel is carrying. The master of the bulker did not report any currency to CBP officers, although he had filed a report days earlier in Maine.
Under the law, those entering and departing the United States may carry any amount of currency and other monetary instruments that they choose. However, any amounts over $10,000 must be reported on a U.S. Treasury Department Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments form.
The CBP officers noticed that the master of the Sheng Ning Hai had filed a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 105 submission for $34,480 during an earlier port call in Searsport, Maine. Further, the officers learned that the vessel’s agent gave the master an additional $40,000 while in Maine.
CBP officers returned to the vessel the following day and conducted a more thorough examination of all spaces. The officers discovered a total of $70,737 in the purser’s safe.
“It is rare to see a commercial ship captain deliberately violate our nation’s laws,” said CBP’s Acting Director of the Baltimore Field Office, Matthew Suarez. He said that commercial vessel captains are required to understand and comply with the laws of the nation where they make port calls and that the office would continue to scrutinize foreign-flag vessels arriving at the port.
CBP’s announcement of the incident said the captain was “in hot water” after he failed to file the report for the additional $40,000 or amend the prior report from Maine. The cash was seized from the ship due to the lack of a report. The bulker was released and is continuing its journey. AIS signals show it is bound for Mombasa.
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