Taiwan Quick Take: Fake pesticides seized

More than 10 tonnes of over 60 types of fake and substandard pesticides were seized by Investigation Bureau agents yesterday in Chiayi County. According to a bureau spokesman, prosecutors from the Chiayi District Prosecutor's Office, quarantine officials from the Council of Agriculture and local county government agricultural officials took part in a series of raids on pharmacies in the Chiayi area. Some of the illicit drugs and pesticides seized by the agents and prosecutors were found to contain various strong toxic substances, such as Nitrofen, which can lead to deformed fetuses and liver cancer if ingested, the spokesman said. The council has banned the use, manufacture and importation of Nitrofen since the 1980s.