A section assistant at the Taipei Department of Social Welfare was indicted yesterday for allegedly selling a cannabis vape pen in the City Hall building, prosecutors said.
The assistant, a woman surnamed Liu (劉), faces a maximum life sentence for selling the item to a man surnamed Chan (詹) on Jan. 2, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Prosecutors indicted Liu under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), which carries a minimum 10 year prison sentence and a maximum life sentence for the sale of a Category 2 narcotic, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Police were led to Liu after stopping a car Chan was driving at a roadside inspection station late on Jan. 2 at the intersection of Xinhai Road and Fuxing S Road, the office said.
Police searched Chan, citing “suspicious behavior,” and found the vape pen on him, it said, adding that he told officers it was bought at Taipei City Hall.
After looking at surveillance footage, police identified Liu as the seller and she was arrested with her boyfriend, surnamed Chou (周), following a series of raids, during which police seized 35g of cannabis, 18 vape pens, cannabis seeds and drug paraphernalia.
The two were arrested on March 6 and released later that month on bail of NT$200,000 each, prosecutors said.
An investigation found that Chou had allegedly purchased more than NT$60,000 of cannabis from a man identified as “Mark” in Taipei since December last year, including vape pens valued at NT$3,500 each, the office said.
Chou gave two of the vape pens to Liu as gifts at the end of last year, one of which she sold to Chan after negotiating the sale on the Line messaging app, it said.
She arranged to deliver the vape pen to Chan in the smoking area on the third floor of Taipei City Hall on Jan. 2, it said.
While Chou admitted guilt, Liu’s statements were inconsistent and she “exhibited a poor attitude and showed no remorse,” prosecutors said.
Liu told investigators that she made no money by selling the vape pen at the same price her boyfriend had purchased it for, the office said.
Chou was also indicted yesterday for possession of cannabis, which carries a much lighter sentence than for the sale of drugs, prosecutors said, adding that the couple’s drug use would be addressed in a separate case.
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