Internet celebrity Weng Chuan-ming (翁雋明), popularly known as Joeman, yesterday apologized for having used marijuana, saying that he had smoked the cannabis in Taiwan and overseas.
Joeman made the remarks in a video on his YouTube channel yesterday, one day after he and several Internet celebrities were released without bail on charges of possessing and possibly using marijuana, the New Taipei City Police Department said.
In Taiwan, marijuana is classified as a Category 2 drug under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例).
Photo: Screen grab from Weng’s YouTube channel
Weng, 35, and a 27-year-old woman surnamed Ho (何), whose stage name is Lyla, along with her 32-year-old husband, surnamed Tang (湯), were arrested during police raids early on Monday.
Seven other people were also arrested along with the trio in separate searches of their residences and offices in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe (中和), Sanchong (三重) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, police said.
A small amount of cannabis, scales and smoking accessories were seized during the raids, which were carried out after authorities received tip-offs, police said.
They all had their urine collected for testing and were all released after being questioned by prosecutors, who are investigating the illicit drug cases, police said.
Apart from being charged with possessing the Category 2 narcotic, the results of the urine tests would determine if they are to face a separate charge of using the illicit drug, police said.
Weng, who earlier this year had co-branded sandwiches with a convenience store chain, yesterday said he had not used marijuana for some time and apologized to his fans for breaking the law.
Saying he would cooperate with the prosecutors in the investigation, he added that he would continue updating his YouTube channel.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
Taiwan’s Li Yu-hsiang performs in the men’s singles figure skating short program at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. Li finished 24th with a score of 72.41 to advance to Saturday’s free skate portion of the event. He is the first Taiwanese to qualify for the free skate of men’s singles figure skating at the Olympics since David Liu in 1992.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
RSS