The Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday indicted a 37-year-old US man for violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) by growing nearly 300 marijuana plants in a house in Changhua County’s Yuanlin Township (員林).
The authorities said the man, whose first name is Mark, was an English-language teacher.
The case came to light when police were tipped off in April. After searching a Yuanlin house and finding 286 marijuana plants, they detained him for questioning.
According to the indictment, Mark obtained 12 cannabis seedlings in 2008 from a South African friend living in Taiwan.
The prosecutors said the American at first planted the seedling on the balcony of his apartment in Yuanlin.
In 2009, he built a greenhouse at his Taiwanese girlfriend’s house after researching online for tips and techniques for growing cannabis.
The police said they found a greenhouse on the third and fourth floors of the house, which had 24-hour ambience control to keep the temperature at a constant 21?C, with air-conditioning and humidity regulation, sun lamps, pH meters, electric fans and professional agricultural implements.
On the man’s computer, the police said they found figures that they suspected were accounts for customer sales.
However, they could not establish if actual sales had taken place.
The suspect has been quoted in Chinese-language media reports as saying that he grew the cannabis for his personal use, because he suffers from severe back pain and insomnia.
“I have tried many other medications, but none of them is effective. Only marijuana worked the best. That is why I started to grow the plants,” the United Daily News quoted him as saying, adding that he said he had not sold cannabis to anyone.
Yet the newspaper reported that after receiving the tip-off, Changhua police had put the house under surveillance before raiding it.
They observed that a significant number of people and cars came to the house on some weekends.
The police said they also suspected the man of selling the marijuana to people at nightclubs and bars, and plan to continue to investigate the possible sales.
Marijuana is classified as a Category II narcotic, along with mescaline, coca leaf, opium and amphetamines.
Article 4 of the act states that people found guilty of manufacturing, transporting or selling Category II narcotics can be sentenced to a prison term ranging from seven years to life.
They may also be fined up to NT$10 million (US$333,400).
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS