A series of drug raids carried out across the nation from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5 seized more than 4,000kg of illicit drugs, reinforcing the Cabinet’s determination to further prioritize its anti-drug campaign by providing more resources and introducing harsher punishments, Premier William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
According to data provided by the Cabinet, the raids, which involved local police officers, Investigation Bureau personnel, the Coast Guard Administration and the military police, resulted in the arrest of 431 suspects, uncovered 11 illegal drug production sites and confiscated about NT$7.98 million (US$272,299) linked to drug-related crimes, as well as a fishing boat and seven cars.
Lai said at an event to publicize the success of the operation that it was the largest drug raid ever in the nation and congratulated the 36 units of police officers and government officials who helped ensure it was a success.
What made the raids different from those undertaken in the past was their scope, enlisting not only the assistance of different local government agencies, but also building and community security officers to raid residential areas where drug use was most likely taking place, Lai said.
The raids focused equally on catching drug users, producers and distributors, he added.
The Cabinet is committed to cracking down on drug-related activities and has promised to provide NT$10 billion in funding to related agencies to ensure they have enough personnel and the proper equipment, he said.
The Cabinet would propose amending existing laws to include harsher punishments for the manufacture and sale of illicit drugs, he added.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching