Taiwan denies ship with reported cocaine contraband was its vessel

Taiwan on Monday denied that the ship, which sank off Northern Samar last week and reportedly the source of a 24-kilogram cocaine contraband, was a Taiwanese vessel.

“As per records of Taiwanese relevant authorities, the so-called 'JIN MING No. 16' is not registered in Taiwan, and there is no database existing in Taiwan,” the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) said in a statement.

Manila and Taipei have no formal diplomatic ties in deference to the One-China Policy. Taiwan is represented by TECO, which acts as its de-facto embassy in the country. Taiwan is a self-ruling democratic island which separated from mainland China in 1949.

TECO said the ship is Togolese and that Taiwanese documents submitted to Philippine authorities by the captain of the vessel, who is from China, were “faked and forged.”

Philippine authorities said crewmen of the Jin Ming No. 16 could have dumped the illegal drugs, valued at P120 million, in the sea as they traversed Philippine waters at the height of Tropical Depression Agaton.

“The route of the ship did not come from Taiwan, but rather from Hainan province, part of mainland China to Chile. This information is fully confirmed by the ship’s Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) data and also admitted by the ship’s captain and crew,” TECO said.

The nine crewmen of Jin Ming No. 16 — six Chinese, two from Hong Kong and a Taiwanese — were rescued in Pambujan town, Northern Samar.

Meanwhile, TECO vowed to work closely with Philippine law enforcement agencies "to combat illegal drug trafficking and eradicate the heinous drug problems." —Michaela del Callar/KBK, GMA News