The National Police Agency’s Seventh Special Police Corps has forwarded a case of alleged illegal breeding of grade-two endangered species to prosecutors, citing the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法).
The corps on Wednesday said it received a tip about a man surnamed Chiang (江) in Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復), and found a locked house on private property.
The officer leading the check applied for a warrant to enter the premises, saying that something “felt suspicious” and citing his two decades of experience as a police officer.
Photo provided by the Seventh Special Police Corps of the National Police Agency’s Seventh Division
When the officers, accompanied by officials from the Forestry Bureau’s Hualien branch, on Monday entered the premises, they found 79 Chinese box turtles, the corps said.
The turtle is on the conservation list, as it is among the most poached wildlife species worldwide, the corps said, adding that the turtles were hiding in earthen and twig mounds or placed inside an abandoned deer shed.
The bureau officials said they were surprised that Chiang had created a professional breeding setup, with safe spots for the turtles and earth for them to burrow in and lay eggs in.
Chiang was quoted as saying that he started keeping turtles more than a decade ago.
“I was quite moved to see the turtles being captured and sold to China, and started raising them for fear that they would go extinct,” Chiang was quoted as saying, adding that he was passionate about Chinese box turtle conservation.
The corps officers said no tools that could be used to capture turtles were found on the premises, nor were there any documents to counter Chiang’s claims.
However, the corps nonetheless forwarded the case to prosecutors, citing a suspected violation of the law.
The officers said they doubted Chiang’s claims, as the population of turtles on site pointed to a professional breeding operation.
The corps called on the public to contact it if they have any tips and to report any illegal breeding of Chinese box turtles to the Forestry Bureau’s Hualien branch office.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS