Eleven people have been indicted for allegedly collecting, storing and processing waste without a license to support an operation that was illegally exporting it, Taoyuan prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.
The Northern Center of Environmental Management informed the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office about the operation, which is believed to have begun in March 2023, the statement said.
During searches on Feb. 7, investigators found about 5,549 tonnes of plastic waste stored at three facilities in Sinwu (新屋) and Jhongli (中壢) districts, Ministry of Environment officials said.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Investigators learned that 5,832 tonnes of waste had been shipped overseas, the office said, adding that NT$394.79 million (US$10.73 million) of suspected illegal gains was confiscated.
Six companies involved in unlicensed waste operations could be fined up to NT$10 million each by the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection, Deputy Minister of Environment Shen Chih-hsiu (沈志修) said.
The 11 people were indicted for operating landfills and storing, processing and disposing waste without a license, offenses that carry a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of NT$15 million, Shen said.
The environment ministry, prosecutors and police have been part of an alliance to tackle breaches of environmental protection laws since 2011, Deputy Minister of Justice Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) said.
Over the past 14 years, the alliance has used technology and a division of specialists to investigate environmental crimes, Hsu said.
Prosecutors have seized illegal gains and assessed how well sites were restored to how they were prior to being used as dumps to determine what level of sentencing they would push for, he said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
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The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
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