The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus is considering legislation that would allow authorities to seize the assets of suspected drug dealers to cut off funding for drug trafficking and help the nation in its war on drugs.
DPP Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) is to propose an amendment to the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) that would allow prosecutors to confiscate illegal sources of income of suspected drug dealers to cut off financial flows to drug syndicates.
At present, law enforcement officials cannot seize the assets of suspected drug dealers unless the items are proven to be illegal.
The amendment would allow prosecutors to impound suspected illegal gains unless the owner can prove they have not been obtained illegally, Chiang said.
The amendment hews to the spirit of newly enacted amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), which authorize prosecutors to confiscate suspected illegal assets of people facing money-laundering charges, Chiang added.
There were 34,492 crimes reported last year, and about one-third were drug-related offenses, DPP Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) said, adding that the ratio is likely to remain the same this year.
“The use of prohibited substances is rampant in the country. The time has come to declare war on drugs,” Tsai said.
With the proposed amendment, prosecutors can probe people and companies linked to drug suspects and seize suspicious assets, Tsai said.
Drug use is high among teenagers and high-school students, and stricter regulations and law enforcement are needed to prevent drug abuse, DPP Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) said.
Ketamine, a prohibited substance commonly abused by high-school students, is a category 3 narcotic, the use and possession of which is punishable by lenient sentences, with the court often acquitting people found to possess 20g of ketamine, Wang said.
Wang said he would seek to adjust the categorization of ketamine to make it a category 2 drug, the use of which is a heavier crime.
Alternatively, penalties may be raised for the possession of even a slight amount of ketamine, he said.
The amendment would also seek to raise penalties for those selling drugs to teenagers or students, Wang added.
“It is our generation’s fault if children and teenagers continue to be exposed to drugs. We have to take responsibility and solve the drug problem,” he said.
Wang added that the DPP would not accept the idea of decriminalizing drugs, which was proposed during the National Congress on Judicial Reform last month.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS