A man yesterday was charged with the deaths of two teenage girls, who investigators believe overdosed on drugs in a New Taipei City motel over the weekend.
The 30-year-old suspect surnamed Hung (洪) allegedly provided narcotics-laced coffee sachets to the girls, aged 16 and 17, after checking into a motel in Sindian District (新店) early on Sunday.
Police were called after the girls’ bodies were found in the motel stairwell later that day.
Photo: CNA
Investigators checked surveillance footage to identify the driver of the vehicle the girls arrived in.
They found Hung with a 21-year-old woman at a motel in Taoyuan, police said, adding that they seized nine narcotics-laced coffee sachets in addition to the seven they found at the New Taipei City motel.
Laboratory tests showed the mixture contained the recreational drugs paramethoxymethamphetamine and mephedrone, while ketamine residue was also found at the scene, police said.
All three stimulants are illegal in Taiwan under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday charged Hung with drug possession, manslaughter and corpse abandonment, as well as supplying prohibited drugs resulting in death under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法).
Hung told police that he had been messaging girls on a Line group chat for a week before inviting them to party at the motel.
After taking the drugs, the girls lost consciousness and stopped breathing, police said, quoting Hung as saying: “I wrapped them in bed sheets and blankets, as I was planning to take them away from the motel, but the bodies were too heavy to carry, so I put them in the stairwell and left.”
Hung told prosecutors that he did not force the girls to consume the narcotics, and that he was not responsible for their deaths, which is why he did not report them.
Investigators said they are waiting for official autopsy results, but believe the deaths were caused by a drug overdose.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS