Police confiscated more than 4,000 replacement pods for vape pens during a drug raid last week, New Taipei City’s Sanchong Precinct said yesterday.
The drug bust was conducted on Thursday last week, after receiving an anonymous tip that a Sanchong District (三重) resident had amassed a substantial number of vape pods at his home, the precinct said in a press release.
At 5pm that day, police raided the home of the 24-year-old man, surnamed Tung (董), and found thousands of replacement vape pods in a range of flavors, it said.
Photo provided by the New Taipei City Police Department
Tung bought the pods online and sold them on social media platforms, which was his main source of income, police said.
The 4,189 vape pods seized during the raid had an estimated market value of NT$1 million (US$30,933), the precinct said.
When tested, the pods were found to contain mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant drug that is classified in Taiwan as a category 3 narcotic.
Tung was arrested and handed over to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation of offenses under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), police said.
He told police that he was innocent and that he was unaware that the pods contained an illegal drug.
Police have issued a warning to the public, saying that vape pods and cartridges might contain illegal drugs in liquid form that are mixed in with cigarette oils.
Substances like these are new drugs that could lure young people into addiction, police said, urging the public to report any suspicious actions to the 110 emergency hotline.
The Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防治法) prohibits the production, sale, import, supply and advertising of “imitation tobacco products,” including electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems such as vape pens, pods and cartridges.
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