Government data showed that while the number of cases involving first-degree controlled drugs such as heroin, morphine and cocaine has decreased, the number of cases involving the use or sale of third and fourth-degree controlled drugs — such as rohypnol and ketamine — saw a marked increase in the first half of this year.
According Ministry of the Interior figures, there have been more than 21,000 cases of violation of the Drug Abuse Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) involving 2,338kg of illegal drugs and 22,459 suspects from January to June this year.
Comparing this year’s figures to those of last year, in the same period of time, the ministry said the number of cases dropped by 4.36 percent while the amount of illegal drugs confiscated dropped by 3.65 percent, or 88.67kg.
“The continuous efforts by the government to fight illegal drugs have led to decrease of violations to the Drug Abuse Prevention Act,” the statement said. “It is especially apparent that the drug-related offenses involving class one drugs have been on the decline.”
However, class three and class four drug offen is increasing.
“Compared to the same period ... last year, there has been a 26.11 percent increase in the use of class three and class four drugs, such as ketamine and flunitrazepam,” the statement said, adding that class 3 and class 4 drug offenses have gone up from 632 cases to 797.
With 3,626 cases of drug offenses, New Taipei City (新北市) ranked the first, Greater Kaohsiung City followed with 2,931 offenses, while Taipei City comes in the third with 2,033 cases of drug offenses.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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