Police yesterday raided several nightclubs in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) and conducted spot checks as part of a government campaign to combat increasing drug use among young people.
Some patrons said that they were bothered by the raids and that police had spoiled their fun as officers sealed off streets and moved into the nightclubs to conduct drug sweeps, stopping music and turning on nightclub house lights.
“We mobilized 150 police officers and brought in eight sniffer dogs to conduct the drug sweep,” Xinyi Police Precinct Chief Wu Ching-tien (吳敬田) said.
Photo: Huang Chien-hua, Taipei Times
During the sweeps, police ordered patrons to remain where they were and prepare their IDs for control, while police handlers led sniffer dogs in search of drugs.
Outside, a separate detachment carried out spot checks on passers-by and people waiting to enter the nightclubs, while sniffer dogs checked handbags and other items.
Wu said the sweep came in advance of the summer holidays, when students are out of school and many young people visit nightclubs, where they could be enticed into trying drugs.
“We are looking to intercede in the possession, sales and trafficking of narcotics. Another priority is to cut off the source by cracking down on the production and supply of drugs,” Wu said.
Wu said that they found suspected illegal drugs on several people in yesterday’s sweep, along with assorted unknown powdered substances and pills, but added that he could not disclose more information, as test results were still pending on confiscated material.
Similar raids were also carried out at nightclubs in other major cities.
National Police Agency Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩) said law enforcement agencies would focus on combating the drug problem, along with cracking down on telecommunications fraud and other scams.
Chen said that more police raids and searches would be conducted at premises throughout the summer.
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