Police arrested 26 people for drug possession at the annual rock music festival in Kenting, which attracted tens of thousands this year.
The weekend includes the Spring Scream rock festival, the Moonlight party and the Kenting Ten Thousand Party. The festivities began on Friday and runs through tomorrow.
Rock bands from Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, Japan and Europe played at the event.
The Chief of Pingtung Police Department, Hung Chun-mu (洪春木), yesterday said the number of people who attend the annual festival is increasing. Police estimate the number of revelers this year at roughly 40,000.
Hung said that because the festival is notorious for drug use and sexual assault, more than 200 police monitored the event.
On Friday night police arrested six people for using drugs during the Moonlight concert and arrested five drug dealers.
On Saturday night, police arrested another 15 people for possession at the electronic music party.
Those arrested will be charged with a number of drug-related crimes. Most of those who were busted were later released on bail, police said.
As of yesterday, no sexual assaults had been reported, police said. No violent altercations occurred during the festival, they added.
Thousands of party people descend on the quiet town of Kenting this time every year, filling its streets, beaches and hotels. Police set up check points on main roads and searched peoples' bag before they attended the parties.
However, police said they discovered many revelers would take drugs before they entered the party in order to evade police searches.
Two party-goers were found unconscious on the road after using too much drugs, police added.
Police also said thousands of people danced and moved around during the parties, making the drug searches more difficult.
Authorities also said that the number of people caught with drugs this year was lower than previous years.
The drug crackdown would continue to the end of the festival, they added.
Famous Taiwanese bands "The Board Chairman" and "Quarter Back" played at the parties on Saturday night -- the party's peak time. Another famous Taiwanese singer, Shino Lin (林曉培) sang at the festival last night.
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