Police over the weekend made arrests in two cannabis cases in Taoyuan and New Taipei City.
A man surnamed Chan (詹), 22, was found with about 100 cannabis plants and 200 cannabis seeds at a rented house in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), Taoyuan City Police Department chief Chen Kuo-chin (陳國進) said yesterday.
A raid was conducted on Saturday, during which officers also found 400g of mixed synthetic drugs, Chen said, adding that a preliminary estimate valued the drugs at NT$1 million (US$32,995).
Photo provided by Taoyuan City Police Department via CNA
Chan was tracked and put under surveillance after police received a tip that someone was selling cannabis online, while police records showed that he was wanted on separate charges for fraud and assault.
Taoyuan prosecutors said Chanfaces charges over breaches of the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), which lists cannabis and its derived products as a category 2 narcotic.
Police said that he had a sophisticated set-up to cultivate cannabis plants, with devices to regulate temperature and humidity, equipment for watering and lighting, and a spacing arrangement for optimal growth of the potted plants.
Police said that Chan told them he had learned how to put the operation together from research online.
In New Taipei City, Banciao Police Precinct officers conducted a search in the city’s Shulin District (樹林), where they found 15 cannabis seedlings, a container of cannabis seeds and a workshop where firearms were made.
One unfinished handgun was seized, officers said.
Police said they questioned a 44-year-old suspect surnamed Lin (林) who lives at the address.
He faces charges over alleged breaches of the narcotics act and the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), they said.
Police said that Lin protested that the search warrant was for firearms, and not for illegal drugs.
However, an officer told him: “Cannabis plants are illegal and were found during our search. We cannot pretend that we did not see them here.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source
LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with
TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to
CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the
RSS