The Kaohsiung Branch of the Taiwan High Court rejected an appeal by an 18-year-old man surnamed Jiang and upheld his 6-year-6-month prison term for smuggling cannabis.[1] The first-instance court had convicted him of jointly transporting a Category 2 drug.[1] Jiang argued that he had just turned 18, was inexperienced and naive in judgment, and had confessed during investigation and trial, asking for another reduction on grounds deserving compassion.[1] The High Court found the original sentence appropriate and proportionate, dismissed the appeal, and the case can still be appealed.[1]
Jiang had seen a message in a Facebook job-seeking group offering NT$40,000 to NT$50,000 for carrying goods as an overseas buyer, which connected him with an overseas drug group.[1] He flew to Kuala Lumpur and collected a suitcase containing 18 packs of cannabis weighing 9,037 grams at a local hotel.[1] On 6 December he flew back with the cannabis and was caught upon landing at Kaohsiung International Airport.[1] The court recorded the net weight as more than 9 kilograms and described the amount as extremely large.[1]
Judges said that if the cannabis had reached the market it would have caused irreparable harm to public health and social order, finding no disproportion between the offense and punishment warranting sympathy.[1] The ruling kept the 6-year-6-month term.[1]
