CRIME
Weapons, drugs seized
Raids on four suspected underground firearms workshops in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) led to the seizure of a large cache of weapons, ammunition and drugs, authorities said yesterday. The Taoyuan District Prosecutor’s Office in a statement said that the person suspected of running the workshops, a man surnamed Chung (鍾), had been released on bail of NT$300,000. Police seized 48 firearms, including three that were loaded, along with 1,900 rounds of ammunition, production equipment and drugs during raids that led to Chung’s arrest on Thursday, prosecutors said. The raids on four locations, including Chung’s residence and tattoo parlor, came after a judge in Taoyuan authorized a search warrant based on several tip-offs. Chung, an alleged associate of the Four Seas Gang, was arrested and questioned on suspicion of contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), but was given bail following a court hearing yesterday morning. The prosecutors’ office said it had appealed the court’s decision to grant Chung bail.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Police Department
SOCIETY
Patrol vessel sets sail
The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) Hsun Hu No. 7 fisheries patrol vessel set sail from Kaohsiung yesterday on a 60-day patrol of the western and central Pacific, the agency said. The CGA said in a statement that the Hsun Hu No. 7 would make a port call in the Marshall Islands, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, during its patrol to inspect fisheries resources and marine biodiversity. Taiwan would also bolster maritime law enforcement and rescue operations in the area by conducting inspections on vessels during the mission, it added. The ship is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Dec. 4, the CGA said. In the past few months, the agency’s Hsun Hu No. 8 and Hsun Hu No. 9 completed high seas patrols in the western and central Pacific, it said. Hsun Hu No. 7 has a displacement of about 1,900 tonnes, which refers to the volume of water displaced by the vessel converted to weight, the CGA said.
WEATHER
Cooler weather expected
Seasonal northeasterly winds would arrive during the long Double Ten National Day weekend, bringing rain and lower temperatures to northern and northeastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As the winds strengthen and a front approaches today, passing through Taiwan tomorrow and on Tuesday, eastern and northern parts of the country would experience occasional rain, CWA forecaster Chen I-hsiu (陳伊秀) said. Northeastern Taiwan, coastal areas in Keelung and mountainous areas in Taipei could see isolated showers, Chen said. Mainly cloudy conditions are expected in central and southern Taiwan and there could be thundershowers in the afternoon, she said. Seasonal winds would also bring cooler weather to northern and northeastern Taiwan, where a high of 25°C or 26°C could be observed, with a low of 23°C, Chen said. Meanwhile, tropical disturbances could form on the South China Sea and waters east of the Philippines, but the situation would not be clear until next week, Chen said.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about