Minister of Justice Shih Mao-lin (施茂林) said yesterday police officers should do more to crack down on drug trafficking and use because such offenses have been closely associated with other criminal activities.
Shih made the remarks while attending a "drug-free homeland" activity organized by the Taipei Prosecutor's Office to mark the June 26 International Anti-Drug Day.
In 2003 and last year, Shih said, more than 8,400kg of contraband drugs were seized around the country. Worse still, he said, 30-plus amphetamine producing facilities were discovered during the same period, indicating that amphetamine production has gradually moved back to Taiwan from China.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Official tallies also show that the number of repeat drug abusers and traffickers has been steadily rising," Shih said, adding that law enforcement agencies should strengthen cooperation in cracking down on drug-related crimes.
In addition, Shih said he is hopeful that community volunteers, school teachers and administrators as well as media outlets can launch a joint publicity campaign to help the public understand the dangers drugs pose to human health, social order and even national security.
Since many Taiwanese drug traffickers are believed to be hiding in China, Shih urged Beijing to intensify investigations into its domestic drug trade and cooperate with Taiwan to thwart drug trafficking across the Taiwan Strait.
"China should set aside its political ideology and cooperate with Taiwan to stamp out drug-related crime for the sake of protecting public health and social order," he said.
Shih's appeal for a redoubled crackdown on drug crime came two days after President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said drug abuse is not just a personal moral issue but has become an issue crucial to public order, social stability, public health and national security.
During his meeting with individual volunteers and social groups that have made outstanding contributions to the anti-drug campaign over the past year, Chen said many crimes are related to drugs.
"With drug use on the increase, new ecstasy shipment arriving and the number of repeat drug abusers and traffickers rising steadily, drug-related crime has become rampant," Chen said, adding that drug abuse has also become a major cause behind the rise in the number of people affected with HIV in Taiwan.
Against this backdrop, Chen said he hopes individual volunteers and interest groups will continue their efforts in assisting the government in eradicating drug trafficking and abuse.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS