Debbie Voulgaris, Australian mother of five faces potential death penalty after she was found with 7 kilos of cocain & heroin during an airport search upon entering Taiwan. Woman claims she is innocent and had no knowledge of drug smuggling.
An Australian mother-of-five is facing the death penalty in Taiwan after she was allegedly caught with no less than 15lbs (7 kilograms) of cocaine and heroin hidden in her suitcase.
Debbie Voulgaris, 57, was arrested at Taoyuan International Airport in December after the drugs were allegedly found in black plastic bags inside her luggage. The woman’s arrest followed a Cathay Pacific flight from Malaysia to Taiwan.
Taiwanese police allege the Australian national was carrying the contraband with a street value of over $1.25million which she initially ‘vehemently denied’ having any knowledge of.
Aussie mom faces potential capital punishment
The mother of five later recanted, claiming her ex-husband John was behind the scheme, according to Taiwanese police.
Voulgaris’s lawyer Leon Huang said it was ‘essential’ her ex took the stand as he was the only person who could confirm her claims.
It’s unclear if John is currently in Australia, but Mr Huang said the legal team was seeking to subpoena him.
Under Taiwan’s strict legal system, capital punishment remains legal – despite repeal attempts. The death penalty can be imposed for a long list of crimes, including murder, treason, terrorism, extreme cases of rape and robbery, and drug trafficking.
Minimum 5 years to life in prison
Although Taiwan has studied other methods of execution, such as the lethal injection, executions are today carried out by shootings using a handgun.
Condemned prisoners are sedated and put face down on a mattress and shot three times through the heart. If the prisoner has opted to donate their internal organs, then they are instead executed by a single bullet to the back of the head.
Even if she is not handed the death penalty, the mother is facing minimum of five years behind bars, but could also be looking at life in prison.
Voulgaris was allegedly handed the category one drugs in Malaysia around December 10 before she flew to Taiwan, the ABC reported.
The Aussie mum was allegedly paid $US1,800 to take the drugs in addition to her accommodation and transport costs.
The drugs had a street value of about $1.25million according to Chen Po-chuan, the captain of Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Brigade.
Unwitting drug mule?
Mr Po-chaun said Voulgaris told authorities she was in Taiwan for a holiday.
Voulgaris’s phone was seized by authorities in Taiwan at the time of her arrest, to prevent her from contacting anyone expecting the delivery, court documents state.
Officers had been sent to her hotel to see if anyone came to collect the drugs, but no one had arrived.
Voulgaris has been detained in a Taiwanese prison since her arrest.
Her lawyer Leon Huang said his client was a ‘good-natured person’ who ‘believed people easily’ and had been used as a drug mule.
‘Based on her description… it appeared that number one, Ms Debbie Voulgaris was not aware of the nature of her travelling,’ Mr Huang said.
‘And number two, she had no idea of what’s placed inside and under her luggage, because there is a hidden compartment and she wasn’t aware of that.’
Mr Huang said that because his client had admitted guilt early, while still maintaining she didn’t know about the drugs, she may avoid the death penalty.
‘If the court finds someone worthy of sympathy, like Debbie’s case, typically, they would not want to offer the option of death sentence,’ he said.
Taoyuan District Prosecutors alleged Voulgaris was part of a ‘drug transport syndicate’ in documents submitted to a Taiwanese court.
‘Although the defendant confessed to the crime during the court’s preparatory proceedings, it is noted that she had previously vehemently denied the crime during the investigation and detention interrogation by this court, and her statements have been inconsistent,’ the documents state.
Part of a drug transport syndicate?
‘Notably, the defendant claimed that the co-conspirator, John, who instructed her to bring category one narcotics to Taiwan, is her ex-husband, indicating a close relationship.
‘The defendant and her lawyer requested that John be summoned to testify during the preparatory proceedings, implying that there remains a risk of collusion with John before his testimony.’
In Taiwan, category one drugs refer to heroin, morphine, opium, cocaine, and their derivative products.
John’s exact whereabouts are currently unclear. Mr Huang said that the legal team was seeking to subpoena him.
Voulgaris has been denied visits from family members but can be visited by her legal team and officials from the Australian Office in Taipei.
An application for her release was denied in March, with judges Cai Yirong and Hou Jingyun ruling there was substantial evidence she was a flight risk.
Her lawyers had argued their client hadn’t spoken with family in three months, was struggling to adapt to Chinese food and could not speak Chinese.
However, the judges ruled these were ‘not factors to be considered when determining the necessity of detention’.
‘It is noted that the defendant’s daughter is aware of John’s contact information, therefore it cannot be ruled out that the defendant could use her daughter to contact John, making this request [for contact] ungrantable,’ they said.
Voulgaris could face the death penalty or life in prison if found guilty or a minimum of five years behind bars.
However, the chances she receives the death penalty are unlikely after Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled last August that imposing a life sentence or the death penalty for drug offences is partly unconstitutional according to the Tapei Times.
The paradox of capital punishment in Taiwan
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said a detained Australian woman in Taiwan was receiving consular assistance.
A change.org petition for Voulgaris’s release has received 3,000 signatures.
‘Anyone who knows her or has met her, understands the pure, kind heart she has,’ the author of the petition wrote.
‘She is a mother to five children and she could be facing a death penalty or life in prison. Please sign the petition to help towards the freedom of an innocent, pure-hearted mother.’
Although there is a long list under Taiwan law of crimes punishable by the death penalty, all executions in the country since the early 2000s have been for murder.
Prior to 2000, Taiwan had a relatively high rate of executions, but controversial cases in the 1990s and changing attitudes towards capital punishment have seen the number of executions come down since the turn of the century.
Three were carried out in 2005, and then none were carried out between 2006 and 2009. Executions resumed in 2010, with 35 being carried out since according to the dailymail.
Amnesty International said in 2023 that no executions have been carried out in the country since 2020.
However, according to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, 49 people are currently under the sentence of death.
According to a study in the Asian Journal of Criminology, around 80 percent of the Taiwanese public support the use of capital punishment.
Voulgaris is set to head to trial in August.
