The Criminal Investigation Bureau on Monday announced the seizure of 313.85kg of amphetamines worth an estimated NT$250 million (US$7.74 million) from an unregistered manufacturer.
The bureau raided a site in Nantou County’s Puli Township (埔里) in late July, arresting suspects including the accused ringleader, Lee Chia-wen (李家文), in Pingtung County and New Taipei City.
It was the largest bust of an amphetamine lab in Taiwan’s history, it said.
Photo: Hsu Kuo-chen, Taipei Times
Lee allegedly hired Lu Yue-hua (呂岳樺) to make amphetamine using ephedrine, which is commonly used in drugs to treat colds, the bureau said.
Nine people have been indicted, while Lee, Lu and five others were detained, it said.
A skilled chemist can produce 1kg of amphetamine from ephedrine extracted from about 20,000 cold pills, while a less skilled chemist might need 30,000 to 40,000 pills, it said.
The amount of amphetamine seized would have required about 6.26 million cold pills to manufacture, it said.
With cold pills costing about NT$10 each, he would have spent about NT$60 million, it said.
Lu was wanted for failing to appear for a six-year prison sentence he was given in 2020, the bureau said.
Lee purchased vehicles to transport goods and machinery for the factory using family members’ names, it said, adding that when he became suspicious that police were tracking them, he bought more than 50 more second-hand vehicles.
The bureau said it would determine whether Lee had connections with pharmaceutical companies or pharmacies.
Lee told police in a statement that he had “made a small fortune” in gambling and wanted to “diversify his investments” by entering the drug-making businesses, it said.
Lee told police that he had obtained the cold medicine through partners and friends, it added.
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