Nine people have been charged in a case involving the supply of fake vaccines to pig farmers, the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday.
The people were indicted on Friday last week on charges of fraud, making and selling counterfeit veterinary drugs, and forging or altering documents in violation of the Veterinary Drugs Control Act (動物用藥品管理法) and the Criminal Code, prosecutors said.
An investigation was launched following the sudden deaths of several piglets in Yunlin and Changhua counties, after prosecutors in March received a tip-off that dubious pig vaccines were being sold to farmers.
During the investigation, prosecutors found that two men had been purchasing genuine vaccines at a cost of NT$3,750 (US$125) per vial, diluting them with distilled water and repackaging them.
The two suspects were selling the fake vaccines to animal drug distributors and pig farmers at NT$3,250 to NT$3,700 per vial, prosecutors said.
Seven other defendants were also charged because they did not verify the source of the vaccines before purchasing them from the two men for distribution, despite paying considerably less than usually, prosecutors said.
Investigators found that about 7,800 vials of fake vaccine had been sold to 32 pig farmers and about 393,600 pigs had been injected with diluted vaccines.
Many of the pigs died because the fake vaccines had been diluted to 8 percent of the normal strength and could not protect them against porcine circovirus (PCV).
The fake vaccines also contained live bacteria that might have caused infection in the pigs, prosecutors said.
The maximum penalty for making or importing counterfeit veterinary drugs is seven years in prison and a fine of NT$4.5 million, according to the Veterinary Drugs Control Act.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,