Drugs

720 KG amphetamine haul intercepted at Yilan County fishing port

coast guard and police search fishing boat at Wushi Port
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Coast guard and police officers arrested three men after boarding a fishing boat and uncovering a 720 kilogram shipment of amphetamines at Wushi Port, Yilan County this afternoon, November 1. According to reports in United Daily News, the Taipei City Police Department Criminal Investigation Division received intelligence several days ago that the fishing vessel Zhenwang No. 2 was suspected to be involved in a smuggling operation. The police informed the Coast Guard Administration, and the vessel was kept under surveillance

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8KG of pure heroin smuggled in shipment of Buddha statues from Myanmar

buddha statues and heroin bricks presented as evidence
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Five suspects have been arrested following the discovery of a batch of heroin bricks hidden in a box of Buddha statues at Taoyuan International Airport in July. Aviation police said that the suspects imported a shipment of Buddha statues from Yangon, Myanmar, in May, 2021. However, the goods sat at the airport for a long time before anybody attempted to pick them up and make a customs declaration. Two months later, in July, a man named Liu turned up at

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Mad reefer: beef noodle shop peddles manic marijuana strain

cannabis indoor grow chamber
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 4 Comments ,

Police uncovered growing locations of a rare strain of marijuana in Yilan County, Taichung City, and Kaohsiung City, after a months-long investigation that uncovered a drug ring centered around a beef noodle restaurant in northern Taiwan. The Third Special Police Corps began an investigation into the drug ring in April after the arrest of a male foreign student who was found growing a rare cannabis variety known as “sour diesel” in Taoyuan City. The suspect, described in media reports as

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County Mayor takes a sniff but doesn’t get a whiff at Changhua’s biggest marijuana bust display

Changhua county Mayor Wang Huimei points to a marijuana plant
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Changhua County Mayor Wang Huei-mei said she still doesn’t know what marijuana smells like because she was wearing a mask while visiting a police exhibit displaying evidence of the largest cannabis growing operation uncovered in the county in recent years. Changhua County prosecutors have charged four men in relation to the case after police investigators found 275 marijuana plants being grown in a rented apartment in Xizhou Township. Investigators conducted a 24-hour surveillance on the operation, and finally swooped a

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13 doctors convicted, sentenced for taking pharmaceutical company bribes

medical and administration staff of Gangshan Armed Forces Hospital
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

Thirteen military medical officers from an armed forces hospital in Kaohsiung City were handed sentences ranging from 1 year, 9 months to 7 years, 8 months for taking bribes from pharmaceutical company representatives in return for prescribing specific drugs to patients, according to reports today, July 6. The Kaohsiung District Court found that pharmaceutical companies provided bribes ranging from NT$170,000 to nearly NT$1 million to doctors and hospital administrators of the Gangshan Armed Forces Hospital in return for prescribing their

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Psychedelic mushroom farmer busted in Kaohsiung City

psychedelic mushrooms
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man in Kaohsiung City was arrested after a police raid turned up the largest haul of psychedelic mushrooms in Taiwan’s history. The 33-year-old man, named Chen, became the focus of police attention after an investigation that began during a marijuana bust last year according to reports in Liberty Times and United Daily News today, June 18. An investigation by the Taichung District Prosecutor’s Office and Criminal Police Bureau began after three packs of psychedelic mushrooms weighing a total of

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Migrant workers caught growing cannabis, breaching epidemic restrictions in Pingtung County

police examine cannabis plant
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

A group of migrant workers were charged for growing cannabis, and producing marijuana cigarettes in Pingtung County, Sunday, and will also be fined for breaching epidemic restrictions, Liberty Times, and United Daily News reported today, Tuesday, May 25. Ligang Police Sub-bureau received a report claiming that someone was growing marijuana and making marijuana cigarettes, leading to an investigation that culminated in a raid on a property in Yanpu Township at around 3:00 pm, Sunday. Police arrested six Thai and Vietnamese

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Another record cannabis grow-op busted: Decriminalization “impossible” says MOJ

cannabis cultivation in Hsinchu City
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , ,

Hsinchu City police announced they had uncovered the largest indoor cannabis cultivation operation in history, and the Minister of Justice said that decriminalization of marijuana in Taiwan is “absolutely not possible” at a press conference today, May 7. The record marijuana haul, grown in a factory building, included 1,540 live cannabis plants, 7 kilograms of finished product, and 880 marijuana cigarettes. Police estimate the value of the haul at close to NT$500 million. Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) attended

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Female drug suspect dead after police fire at car

police road check
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

One of two females who attempted to escape from a police checkpoint died after an officer fired two shots at the car in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City yesterday, April 25. Police stopped an Audi SUV driven by a 29-year-old woman named Lin at a roadside checkpoint on Zhonggang East Road at around 10:00 pm. Traveling with Ms Lin was 30-year-old woman, also named Lin, but unrelated. Both women wound down their windows and cooperated with police until, a license

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Large cannabis grow-op uncovered in Hsinchu County

cannabis plants
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 3 Comments , ,

The Criminal Investigation Bureau raided a property in Hsinchu County recently and uncovered a marijuana cultivation operation with more than 1,600 plants, the CIB revealed at a press conference today, April 21. A police spokesperson said that the Taipei office of the CIB received a report in mid-March that a drug cartel had rented a large factory in Hsinchu to plant cannabis. The subsequent investigation found that seedlings were raised in the factory, then transferred to a property in the

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National record for cannabis cultivation broken once again, after 1,600+ plant grow-op busted

a cannabis plant-filled auditorium in Chiayi county
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 3 Comments , ,

Chiayi County police and district prosecutors uncovered a record haul of 1,648 marijuana plants after raids on multiple properties in the county, Sunday, February 21. The previous record for a cannabis cultivation operation bust for Taiwan law enforcement was set in August 2020, when Taichung City Police uncovered 1,361 plants in Nantou County. See previous story: Biggest marijuana plantation in Taiwan’s history busted in Nantou County Chiayi County police began an investigation into the operation in November 2020, and raided

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