By: Eoghan Olkeriil Ngirudelsang
Koror, Palau — Two Chinese nationals who are in Palau on tourist visa, have been charged with methamphetamine possession and trafficking in separate incidents last week, adding to growing concerns over foreign involvement in Palau’s illicit drug trade.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed two separate cases against Lei Huang and Yongjun Li, each facing one count of possession and one count of trafficking methamphetamine.
In case 25-050, filed on June 12, authorities allege that Lei Huang was arrested following a controlled buy operation conducted by the Narcotics Enforcement Unit (NEU) on May 29. According to Officer Palo’s testimony, a confidential informant (CI) collected methamphetamine from a predetermined drop location and left behind payment. Moments later, officers observed a gray Alphard van arrive at the site. A man exited the vehicle, retrieved the money, and was immediately arrested. He was later identified as Huang. The substance obtained from the CI tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed 1.32 grams.
A second case, filed June 13, accuses Yongjun Li of trafficking 10.38 grams of methamphetamine. On the evening of June 11, NEU officers followed a CI to a prearranged location. Officers observed the CI meet with Li and return to his vehicle with a plastic bag containing a ziplock bag and two unopened soda cans, which also held a crystalline substance. The substance tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine.
Both Huang and Li have been taken into custody and are awaiting trial. Bail for each has been set at $50,000. If unable to post bail, they will join 22 others currently in long-term detention.
Under Palauan law, methamphetamine possession is punishable by 15 to 25 years in prison and fines ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. Trafficking convictions carry sentences of 25 to 50 years and fines between $50,000 and $1 million.
The arrests mark the latest in a series of drug-related cases involving foreign nationals, raising alarm over the growing presence of transnational narcotics networks operating in the country.