Police on Wednesday announced they seized 135kg of etomidate, a Category 2 narcotic commonly consumed by vaping, in the largest-ever single seizure of the recreational drug in Taiwan’s history.
The National Police Agency identified a suspicious shipment at Kaohsiung International Airport on Oct. 8. Using an X-ray, the shipment was found to contain 27 hidden bags of etomidate powder, the agency said at a news conference.
Police traced and apprehended the intended recipient of the shipment, a man surnamed Yeh (葉), in Kaohsiung’s Renwu District (仁武) on Oct. 11.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Yeh, 34, is suspected of contacting a drug trafficking group in May last year and paying NT$300,000 (US$9,225) to purchase the drugs.
The Ciaotou District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Yeh for violations of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) and recommended a 15-year sentence, it said.
The prosecutors said at the same news conference that the shipment of etomidate — a short-acting medical anesthetic that has grown in popularity as a recreational drug in recent years — could potentially have been used to produce 1.35 million “zombie cigarettes,” with an estimated street value of NT$2.7 billion.
At the time of Yeh’s arrest, etomidate was a Category 3 drug.
The substance, which has been implicated in fatal traffic incidents, including one in July that resulted in the deaths of two police officers, was reclassified by the Ministry of Justice as a more-serious Category 2 narcotic on Nov. 14.
According to the act, people convicted of using Category 2 narcotics — which includes etomidate, marijuana and fentanyl — face a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
At the same event, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) praised a national anti-drug operation that resulted in seizures of more than 4,000kg of illegal narcotics last month and early this month.
“Harm caused by drugs is a common problem around the world,” Cho said. “Only heavy punishments will deter drug syndicates.”
The news conference was called to announce the results of the 11th wave of the police agency’s “Operation Safe Homes” initiative, conducted from Oct. 1 to Nov. 9.
According to Cho, the operation investigated or apprehended 2,313 people suspected of drug-related activities, seized 4,160kg of narcotics and dismantled 103 drug factories.
“With stronger legal penalties going forward, law enforcement will be able to more effectively investigate and prevent tragedies [caused by etomidate],” Cho said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
RSS