Farmers Busted Growing Pot in Pingtung
Two farmers, both former national athletes, were arrested after a raid by police and coast guard found the men were growing cannabis among trees in an orchard in Pingtung County, July 14.
After a 6 month long investigation, officers from a combined investigation team involving officers from coast guard and police units in Pingtung County and Kaohsiung City set up an ambush at 5:00am Saturday morning, and arrested the men when they arrived and began to spray pesticides on the cannabis plants, which were planted between rows of trees. A total of 117 plants were confiscated as evidence after the arrest.
The two men, 61 year-old Liang Jing-lin (梁敬林), and Ye Shen-xi (葉申喜), 63, were found to be former national athletes. Liang had represented Taiwan in international baseball games, and Ye was a former national record holder for the 100 meter sprint.
According to Chinese language media reports, police investigators estimated the marijuana crop to have a street value of around NT$50 million. The men suffered financial constraints, including a more than NT$1 million debt on the part of Ye, and are believed to have been supplied the seeds by a third party and promised around NT$20,000 per harvested plant.
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