Two underground factories producing a variety of illegal drugs were raided on Saturday last week in Pingtung County and six suspects arrested, law enforcement authorities said on Tuesday.
Local police and officers from the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau conducted the raids, which found 5.7kg of amphetamine pills, 158kg of unfinished amphetamine liquid, 432g of nimetazepam and 106kg of ephedrine.
Among those arrested were a man surnamed Wang (王), 37, who is the suspected ringleader; a man surnamed Kuo (郭), 33; a 22-year-old surnamed Tu; and three more men, bureau officials said.
The same group was believed to be behind both factories, they said.
After questioning, the suspects were transferred to prosecutors to be charged with contravening the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
An array of laboratory equipment and manufacturing tools was seized, including a vehicle believed to have been used to transport the drugs.
Tu was wearing a gas mask and mixing chemicals when the police and agents broke down the door of one of the factories, officials said.
In related developments, Taichung police said they arrested a man and a woman over the weekend in separate incidents for suspected drug use.
The woman was taken in for allegedly consuming ketamine, while the man was nabbed while using a needle to inject a drug, which tests found to be heroin.
Police in Taoyuan also said that they had caught a known drug dealer last week, who allegedly had 9.2kg of high-purity ketamine in his knapsack.
Officials estimated the street value of the drug to be about NT$10 million (US$328,364).
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