400 kg heroin haul the largest on-shore drug bust in Taiwan history

double lion brand heroin bricks
Drugs 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , ,

Police in New Taipei City arrested three men and confiscated 400 kilograms of high-purity heroin in what is believed to be the largest on-shore drug bust in Taiwan’s history, it was announced at a press briefing yesterday, November 4. The Criminal Investigation Corps of New Taipei City Police Department began an investigation into the large-scale drug trafficking operation after receiving intelligence in September that a warehouse on Dake 1st Road in Taishan District was being used by a drug smuggling

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Newborn who died one day after birth the youngest suspected vaccine injury reported so far

Centers for Disease Control Central Epidemic Command Center press briefing
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced that a total of 9 fatalities were added to the vaccine adverse events reporting system yesterday, including a one day old baby whose mother had been vaccinated during pregnancy. CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang, speaking at a daily press briefing November 3, said that the one-day old newborn had died on October 7 due to abnormal blood clotting. Chuang said that the mother had received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine on July

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Parking violations lead to explosive charges

hand made grenades
Crime and Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taoyuan City police on a routine patrol discovered a cache of handmade grenades in a car driven by a man who had parked illegally, this morning, November 3, and it was one of two similar, but unrelated cases in the city today. According to police who spoke at a media briefing today, officers noticed an illegally parked car on Nanfeng Street, Taoyuan District at around 1:00 am. Police approached the 21-year-old driver, named Chen, with the intention of issuing a

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Vaccine injury program approves payout for TTS blood clots following COVID-19 shot

Covid vaccine used vials and needles
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

Taiwan’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program(VICP) approved it’s highest relief payment to date for a case of vaccine-induced thrombosis, October 21, according to minutes of the meeting released yesterday. The VICP reviewed 13 applications for compensation for adverse events following the AstraZeneca vaccine at the October 21 meeting. Among the cases, one involving a 30-year-old man from Taoyuan City who developed thrombosis in combination with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), was determined to be related to the vaccine. The committee made their decision

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Chinese kid plays parkour: jumps between buildings 27 floors up

kid jumping between buildings 27 floors up
Regional 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Two boys were playing on the roof of a 27 storey building in Hubei Province, China, last week, and one was seen jumping between two buildings several times. According to media outlets in China and Hong Kong, the boys were seen imitating parkour moves on the buildings in Xianning City on October 26, and video footage of the incident has since gone viral on Chinese social media sites. The nearby resident who shot the video, informed the property manager of

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3 of 4 imported COVID cases fully vaccinated: one with two doses of Astrazeneca and two doses of BioNTech

Deputy Chief Medical Officer CECC Philip Lo
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The Central Epidemic Command Center announced four new cases of COVID-19 among people entering Taiwan from abroad, including three “breakthrough infections.” CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who serves as Deputy Chief of the CECC’s medical response team said that there were no new domestically transmitted cases, nor deaths among confirmed cases, today, Tuesday, November 2. However, there were four new cases among arrivals from abroad, including three males and one female aged from their 40s to 60s. Two cases

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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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More than 20 people stung by hornet swarm in Kaohsiung mountain district

composite image hornet and ambulance
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Twenty-four people were stung, and 2 required hospitalization after a swarm of hornets attacked a group of 39 tourists in Kaohsiung City’s rural Namaxia District yesterday, October 31. The group of Kaohsiung City residents was visiting the Tangaanua Shrine as part of a tour of the Bunun indigenous people’s traditional culture when a child was stung by a Asian giant hornet at around 10:30 am. The frantic actions of the child attempting to wave the hornet away is believed to

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Suspect shot dead in Tainan City SWAT raid

suspect in ambulance
Crime and Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

An armed suspect who shot at and injured a Kaohsiung City police officer last week was shot dead during a SWAT team raid on his hotel room in Tainan City this morning, October 31. According to police, the suspect, named Chen, put a pistol to his own temple and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. Chen then pulled the pistol’s slider, and pointed the gun at police. Three police officers opened fire, leaving Chen’s body riddled with 16 bullets,

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Heavy machinery falls off truck, crushes parked car

car crushed by excavator track and undercarriage
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A large piece of heavy machinery fell off a semi-trailer in Kaohsiung City this morning, flattening a parked car, but fortunately the owner of the vehicle was having breakfast at the time, and there were no casualties. At 6:22 am this morning, a 26-year-old man named Liu was driving a semi-trailer on Dezhong Road in Nanzi District when the section of heavy machinery undercarriage being carried on the trailer fell off and crushed the small sedan. According to police, the

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Pitbull involved in fatal attack now up for adoption

pitbull in cage at animal shelter
Animals 
Phillip Charlier 3 Comments , ,

A pit bull who bit a man in the thigh, piercing his femoral artery, and causing him to bleed to death, is being cared for in a Hsinchu County animal refuge until a suitable person can be found to adopt him. The Hsinchu County Fire Bureau responded to a report, Sunday, October 10, that a man had been seriously injured by a dog in Jianshi Township. Paramedics arrived to find that the man had already lost vital signs after bleeding

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