Police over the weekend made arrests in two cannabis cases in Taoyuan and New Taipei City.
A man surnamed Chan (詹), 22, was found with about 100 cannabis plants and 200 cannabis seeds at a rented house in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), Taoyuan City Police Department chief Chen Kuo-chin (陳國進) said yesterday.
A raid was conducted on Saturday, during which officers also found 400g of mixed synthetic drugs, Chen said, adding that a preliminary estimate valued the drugs at NT$1 million (US$32,995).
Photo provided by Taoyuan City Police Department via CNA
Chan was tracked and put under surveillance after police received a tip that someone was selling cannabis online, while police records showed that he was wanted on separate charges for fraud and assault.
Taoyuan prosecutors said Chanfaces charges over breaches of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), which lists cannabis and its derived products as a category 2 narcotic.
Police said that he had a sophisticated set-up to cultivate cannabis plants, with devices to regulate temperature and humidity, equipment for watering and lighting, and a spacing arrangement for optimal growth of the potted plants.
Police said that Chan told them he had learned how to put the operation together from research online.
In New Taipei City, Banciao Police Precinct officers conducted a search in the city’s Shulin District (樹林), where they found 15 cannabis seedlings, a container of cannabis seeds and a workshop where firearms were made.
One unfinished handgun was seized, officers said.
Police said they questioned a 44-year-old suspect surnamed Lin (林) who lives at the address.
He faces charges over alleged breaches of the narcotics act and the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), they said.
Police said that Lin protested that the search warrant was for firearms, and not for illegal drugs.
However, an officer told him: “Cannabis plants are illegal and were found during our search. We cannot pretend that we did not see them here.”
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
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —