Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday presented awards to civil servants who were instrumental in investigations that he said helped maintain social stability and safeguard the economy.
Collaboration between the Seventh Special Police Corps, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office and the Forestry Bureau ended an illegal logging operation in Hsinchu County that targeted cypress burls and camphor lumber, among other trees, Su told a ceremony at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, adding that suspects also shot and ate a Formosan black bear — a protected species.
The case is still being investigated by the prosecutors’ office, he said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
People were distraught when they learned that a Formosan black bear had been slaughtered and consumed, he said.
The suspects were promptly apprehended by bureau and Council of Agriculture officials, who tirelessly patrol mountain areas, he said.
The Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office, the Yunlin County Police Bureau and the Ocean Affairs Council joined forces to investigate a factory in Yunlin County that was making counterfeit Triple Stimulus Vouchers, Su said.
Equipment was seized and five suspects were arrested, ending an operation that had a potential cost to the public of NT$370 million (US$12.53 million), he said.
Had the counterfeit vouchers not been discovered, their value would have disrupted the nation’s finances and prompted suspicion that fake vouchers were ubiquitous, Su said.
The government program inspired counterfeiting, which shows that the genuine vouchers had value, he said.
The Customs Administration, as well as Taichung and Hsinchu County police department personnel intercepted 277,000 Chinese-made masks labeled as “Made in Taiwan,” Su said.
The shipment was valued at NT$1.4 million, he said.
All three cases were cracked this month, he said.
Had the masks entered the market, it would have made people feel unprotected, Su said.
The nation is producing 20 million masks a day, some of which are exported, the premier said, adding that officials at the White House have been pictured wearing masks bearing “Made in Taiwan.”
He thanked the officers who intercepted the mislabeled masks, adding that they helped protect the “Made in Taiwan” brand.
Su said that he picked the weekly Cabinet meeting to confer the awards to demonstrate how much emphasis and support the government gives the work of law enforcement personnel.
He encouraged prosecutors, police and customs officers, animal care workers and mountain rangers to continue being guardians of the nation’s ports, towns and mountains, making Taiwan more secure and vibrant.
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