Judicial authorities on Saturday warned the public not to try narcotic powder mixtures, as more than 60 deaths in the first half of this year were attributed to overdoses.
The announcement came in the wake of heavy sentences handed down on Wednesday by the Keelung District Court to three people convicted of selling mixtures of PMMA powder and manslaughter in connection with three fatal overdoses.
PMMA is similar to MDMA, or ecstasy, and can induce altered sensations, feelings of pleasure, increased energy and hallucinogenic effects.
Judges convicted Chen Yu-chieh (陳宇傑) and two friends, surnamed Wu (吳) and Liu (劉), for selling PMMA mixes near senior-high schools in Keelung, possession of illegal drugs, and manslaughter in connection with the overdose deaths of three students who died over a one-month period.
Chen and Liu were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Liu was sentenced to 19 years.
The judges said that they handed down the heavy sentences in a bid to deter other people from selling narcotics to youngsters.
Investigators told the court that questioning and testimony showed that the trio had known that the potency of their PMMA powders was too high.
In related news, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) on Friday announced that bilateral cooperation efforts with Thai authorities led to the break-up of an international smuggling operation that was importing cannabis to Taiwan by air.
The alleged mastermind is a 33-year-old man surnamed Lu (呂), Captain Chang Wei-lun (張瑋倫) of the CIB’s International Affairs Section said.
A shipment from Thailand was found to contain packages with 6.5kg of mainly cannabis flowers, estimated to have a street value of more than NT$10 million (US$350,619), he said.
The cannabis flowers had been wrapped in packages labelled as “Pu’er tea” from Yunnan Province, China, Chang said
Yu allegedly coordinated the purchasing and packaging with two Taiwanese in Thailand, he said.
CIB officers also arrested four other persons allegedly involved with Yu.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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