Drug smuggling fishermen used Chinese sat nav to avoid detection

Taipei, Nov. 14 (CNA) A Taiwanese fishing vessel found trafficking drugs used a proscribed Chinese navigation satellite system to avoid detection, a Taiwan Statebuilding Party legislative candidate said Tuesday.

At a press conference, Huang Hsin-ying (黃馨瑩) said that crew members of a Taiwanese fishing vessel recently convicted of smuggling drugs by the Kaohsiung District Court used a Chinese "BeiDou Navigation Satellite System" to evade law enforcement.

Describing the use of the navigation system as a "threat to national security," Huang urged the Fisheries Agency and the National Communication Commission (NCC) to launch an investigation into the case.

Responding to the case, NCC spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said users of illegal Chinese satellite systems could be fined a maximum of NT$1 million (US$30,912) under the law.

According to Wong, vessels usually use equipment with a legal Automatic Identification System (AIS) to navigate, but the Taiwanese vessel used a restricted Chinese system to avoid being monitored.

Since 2018, the NCC has banned the use of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System products without approval, and asked related agencies to confiscate such equipment from those found illegally importing, using or selling it, Wong said.

In addition, according to Articles 65 and 66 of the Telecommunications Management Act, those who sell controlled telecommunications radio frequency devices such as "BeiDou Navigation Satellite System" could face a fine of NT$10,000 to NT$200,000, Wong said.

Those who import and produce such devices without approval could face a fine of between NT$100,000 to NT$1 million, Wong added.

Meanwhile, in response to the case, the Fisheries Agency said it would confiscate the equipment on the vessel in accordance with the Telecommunications Management Act.

(By Su Ssu-yun, Yang Shu-min, Lin Chiao-lien and Evelyn Yang) Enditen/ASG