According to statistics from the Ministry of Justice, 2012.7kg of the drug ketamine were confiscated last year between January and October, and China is apparently the largest exporter of the illicit substance, accounting for 1523.1kg, or 75 percent. To prevent ketamine from entering the country, the ministry has ordered the Coast Guard to strengthen its efforts to catch smugglers at sea and the Customs Authority to strengthen its controls of cargo containers, mail and checked luggage.
Taiwan and China have also established collaborative channels for catching drug traffickers, but for many years now the Chinese have been preoccupied with fighting against drug trafficking in their own borders, and have therefore not been able to actively pursue the mission of keeping illicit drugs from entering Taiwan. Speaking candidly, one high-ranking police official said that it would be nearly impossible to solve Taiwan’s drug problem simply by relying on cross-strait cooperation.
It is undeniable that the proliferation of ketamine in Taiwan is linked to China, and according to the ministry’s data on the origin of all ketamine obtained by authorities, China is indeed the main source. The country is also generally acknowledged internationally as being a major drug producer, transfer nation, and country-of-origin for many of the illegal synthetic drugs on the global market.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者朱沛雄
In recent years, drug traffickers have used fishing boats, international parcels, checked luggage and shipping containers as methods for transporting ketamine from China to Taiwan. Fishing vessels have been caught on numerous occasions smuggling the drug from China, and in one case more than 300kg of the substance were confiscated, which subsequently caused the price on the black market to go from just below NT$200,000 per kilogram to between NT$600,000 and NT$700,000.
If there is a way to make a buck, there will always be someone out there willing to try. With an increasing amount of drug traffickers being caught, alternative ways to get the drug into the country are sprouting up. Some people are now going to China to learn how to make ketamine, shipping the raw materials to Taiwan, including hydroxylimine hydrochloride, solvents, as well as the equipment for making it, and then manufacturing the substance in Taiwan’s mountainous areas.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
法務部統計，去年一到十月共查獲兩千零一十二點七公斤K他命，毒害台灣最深的「進口商」就是中國，共輸台一千五百二十三點一公斤，占七成五，為杜絕K他命攻陷國門，法務部已通令查緝海上走私及海關加強搜查貨櫃、郵包、托運行李。
另一方面，我方雖然也和中國已建立合作緝毒管道，但多年下來，中方對自己境內的緝毒作業很賣力，對毒品入侵台灣斷絕管道的查緝行動卻不積極；一名高階警官不諱言，想靠兩岸合作解決毒品問題「很難啦！」
台灣K毒氾濫和中國脫不了關係，根據法務部歷年公布台灣查獲毒品來源地點，主要地點都是中國，中國被國際列為毒品生產和轉運國，更是新興合成毒品的來源國，在國際上千夫所指。
近年來，毒梟利用漁船、國際包裹、行李托運及貨櫃等方式，無所不用其極，從中國運輸K毒來台，檢調曾多次破獲透過漁船從中國走私K毒的案例，更曾一次抄獲三百多公斤K他命，讓K他命的黑市價格驚驚漲，從每公斤不到新台幣二十萬元，漲到新台幣六十、七十萬元。
賺錢的生意不怕沒人做，毒梟被境外攔截多了，索性轉念另起爐灶，遠赴中國學習製毒技巧，再進口K他命原料「鹽酸羥亞胺」、溶劑及製毒器具來台，隱藏在台灣山區的工寮製毒。
（自由時報記者侯柏青、林慶川）
Renhe sat stiffly at the Wei Ya banquet, picking at the symbolic dishes on the table. Fish for abundance, sticky rice cake for progress — it all seemed superstitious to him. The shrine to the Land God near the entrance, adorned with offerings, incense, and fruit, struck him as frivolous. “What does this have to do with running a business?” Renhe scrolled on his phone as his co-workers performed skits and poorly sung songs. He wasn’t even paying attention to the lucky draws when his name was called. The room filled with applause and cheers as he went to the stage
Stonefish may not be the most impressive-looking animal in the sea. In fact, this fish is so skilled at camouflage that most people wouldn’t notice it if they swam past it. Despite their unremarkable appearance, stonefish are the most venomous fish in the ocean. Stonefish come in various shades of brown, red, yellow, and orange. Their rough skin texture and blotchy color pattern give them a remarkable resemblance to stones, which is where their name comes from. This feature helps them blend in with their surroundings exceptionally well. Stonefish are notable for their 13 highly venomous spines which protrude
The cocoa industry is currently facing a crisis, with this year’s cocoa trading price soaring to an unprecedented $10,000 per ton—a 400 percent increase from last year—stemming from diminished crop yields. Given cocoa’s indispensable role in chocolate-making, this surge has driven up chocolate prices and triggered concerns about the sustainability of global chocolate production. West Africa, home to over half of the world’s cocoa trees, is at the center of this issue. The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Ghana, in particular, are facing severe challenges from both natural disasters and human-induced factors, substantially impacting cocoa harvests. Climate change, with
「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) or 「碰肘／擊肘」 (elbow bump): 新冠肺炎流行逐漸改變現代社會的某些社交禮儀，歐美許多名人政要開始以「雙手合十／合掌禮」(namaste) 或「碰肘／擊肘」(elbow bump) 替代握手。 《今日商業》報導英國王儲查爾斯以「雙手合十」代替握手。 Coronavirus update: Prince Charles spotted greeting people with namaste (Business Today , March 12, 2020) 另外，《商業內幕》報導：疫情期間美國總統川普在白宮舉行新冠肺炎記者會，想和居家照護公司LHC集團執行副總葛林斯坦 (Bruce Greenstein) 握手，葛林斯坦婉拒，示意改用擊肘。 President Donald Trump attempted to shake hands with a home health care company executive . . . but the man turned the president down and offered him an elbow bump instead. (Eliza Relman, Business Insider , March 14, 2020) 「雙手合十／合掌禮」源自印度，也流行於泰、緬等國家。「碰肘／擊肘」則是 2006 禽流感、2009 豬流感後逐漸流行。疫情逐漸改變我們的生活方式，包括打招呼等社交禮儀，也出現了微妙的變化。 「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute) 至於華人社會傳統上也有雙手互握合於胸前「拱手禮」(fist-and-palm salute)。公益網站 Just Quarantine 提到： Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen demonstrating social distancing through use of a traditional Chinese greeting (fist & palm) instead of shaking hands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 因應新冠肺炎疫情，2020 當年總統蔡英文與來訪賓客保持安全距離，拱手 (fist &
RSS