Police on Wednesday said they arrested a Taiwanese man and two foreign nationals in New Taipei City and Taoyuan on suspicion of selling cannabis products online.
The police seized 189 cannabis plants, along with an unspecified amount of related marijuana products, ointments and creams, 10.5g of cannabis seeds, and equipment for cultivating the plants, police officials said.
The Third Special Police Corps arrested a Taiwanese man, surnamed Ma (馬), 42, a Mexican man, 43, and a Nepalese man, 50, on suspicion of running an illegal cannabis sale operation for several years, said Yang Ting-yeh (楊定曄), captain of the police corps investigation unit.
Photo courtesy of the Third Special Police Corps
Police set up an investigation team following reports last year of a group selling marijuana products online, Yang said.
In Taiwan, cannabis and its derivative products are listed as Category 2 narcotics, under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), Yang added.
After collecting evidence, police searched a location in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) in November last year, detaining the Mexican national, where they also found 103 cannabis plants, 2.4kg of dried materials and one set of cultivation equipment, Yang said.
Investigators said that the Mexican national was teaching English and got to know fellow English teachers — Ma and the Nepalese man — at a language center, where they became friends and had an interest in growing cannabis for their own consumption, Yang said.
The Nepalese man allegedly learned techniques for cultivating cannabis before coming to Taiwan, officials said.
He got a job teaching English in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口) and had cultivated cannabis plants at home, for which he was convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2017, officials said.
However, he did not report to prison, and remained in hiding with the help of Ma, who helped him rent a luxury condominium in New Taipei City, making a living by growing cannabis and derived marijuana products, police said.
Ma used “party” (派對), “group purchase” (團購) and other code words to sell marijuana on social media platforms, police officials said.
The trio profited from online sales over the past four years, Yang said, adding that they operated three cannabis production centers, which were shut down following police raids.
Over the two major raids, police seized 292 plants and more than 4kg of derived marijuana products with a street value estimated at more than NT$20 million (US$668,248), Yang said.
The investigation is still ongoing.
The three men face charges relating to the production and sales of narcotics.
The Mexican man has been in judicial detention since November last year, the Nepalese national was sent to prison to serve the previous conviction’s seven-year term, while Ma was denied bail and has been detained since his arrest, Yang said.
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