Tainan police said they discovered an alleged criminal ring engaged in the illegal dumping of waste materials at 16 locations covering more than 300 hectares.
Six suspects were placed in judicial detention after questioning, police said on Saturday.
Public prosecutors said the suspects are facing charges for allegedly contravening the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) for dumping industrial materials at locations that are not government-approved landfill sites.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Police Department
They are also suspected of engaging in organized criminal activities punishable under the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), prosecutors added.
Tainan City Environmental Protection Bureau official Wang Shih-wei (王世為) said the bust is the largest in the nation’s history.
Authorities began the investigation in August last year through cooperation between the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, the Ministry of Environment, the Tainan City Police Department’s criminal investigation unit and the bureau, Wang said.
The investigation uncovered 16 dumping sites associated with the case, including at Tainan’s Shanhua (善化), Annan (安南) and other townships, as well as locations under Kaohsiung’s jurisdiction.
Three were at solar farms connected to aquaculture ponds and the other 16 were at unused sites in rural areas, unused farmland or abandoned aquaculture ponds, Wang said.
Prosecutors and police officials said their excavations of those locations uncovered materials classified as “industrial waste” under the Waste Disposal Act, contravening Article 46 on arbitrary disposal of waste.
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