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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Police raid nets NT$3bn in drugs
A suspect covers his face while escorted by police officers yesterday in New Taipei City following a raid on a large amphetamine-based drug factory in the city’s Tucheng District. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
A large underground amphetamine factory was raided on Sunday in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District （土城）, police said yesterday.
The operation was conducted jointly by the Taipei, New Taipei City and Pingtung County police forces.
About 107kg of finished products, 142kg of products undergoing crystallization and 7,000kg of liquid methamphetamine were seized during the operation.
Manufacturing equipment, such as boilers, hydrogen bottles, filtration instruments, large freezers and many chemical substances, were also confiscated, and two suspects, a 35-year-old man surnamed Ho （何） and a 26-year-old man surnamed Lee （李）, were arrested at the site.
Police estimate that more than 3,000kg of amphetamine with a market value of about NT$3 billion （US$102.2 million） could have been produced from the seized materials.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） yesterday visited the Taipei Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and gave the officers bonuses for the successful operation.
Ko said that when he assumed office, he instructed authorities to treat drug users like patients who should be given treatment and lessons in prevention, but to view drugmakers and traders as criminals who should be severely punished according to the law.
The Taipei Police Department received a tip-off in February from the Pingtung County Police Bureau about a suspected illicit drug ingredient and equipment purchase, department anti-drug center head Huang Ren-jian （黃壬鍵） said.
The joint police forces, working under the command of the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office, identified a sheet-metal house on Chengtian Road in Tucheng as the potential factory.
After two months of investigation, police raided the factory at about 5:30pm on Sunday, he said.
People who produce, transport or trade amphetamine, a second-grade illegal drug in Taiwan, face a minimum of seven years in jail and a possible life sentence, in addition to a fine of up to NT$10 million, police said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
Drug-making equipment is pictured yesterday at a police station in New Taipei City after being seized during a raid on Sunday at a large amphetamine factory in the city’s Tucheng District. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
