Kaohsiung police arrest 9 Taiwanese, 64 Vietnamese nationals in raid

Kaohsiung, July 1 (CNA) Kaohsiung Police on Monday announced they apprehended 73 individuals during a raid last month, nine Taiwanese and 64 Vietnamese migrant workers, confiscating over 900 packets containing illegal substances.

In a press release, the Kaohsiung City Police Department Criminal Investigation Corps. said the arrests were made on June 22 as part of an investigation into a weekend clubbing location in the southern port city's Daliao District.

Kaohsiung police received information on the venue through an anonymous tip, which revealed that a vacant structure in the district was being used as a weekend club on Fridays and Saturdays.

The secret location was often patronized by more than 100 people and also sold illegal substances, according to the press release.

Following days of surveillance, the taskforce secured a search warrant to raid the venue on Saturday evening, June 22.

The taskforce apprehended a total of 73 individuals at the scene, including nine Taiwanese and 64 Vietnamese nationals.

According to the taskforce, 14 of the 64 Vietnamese were migrant workers who, according to a definition provided by Taiwan's government, were considered "missing" as they were unaccounted for by the government for different reasons such as overstaying their visa or absconding from their original place of work.

In addition, the police found category two and three narcotics inside lockers and storage facilities at the club.

Category two substances confiscated by authorities included 13 packets of amphetamines and a packet of marijuana.

Meanwhile, category three drugs seized included 45 packets of ketamine, 900 packets of a synthetic cathinone-based new psychoactive substance (NPS) packaged to resemble instant coffee, and 10 individual hami melon-flavored NPS pills.

The police further confiscated seven cellular devices and NT$1,734,400 (US$53,318) in cash.

Police said based on evidence collected, officers transferred four individuals to prosecutors for violating Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.

Those being investigated by Kaohsiung prosecutors include the manager of the rave club, a 67-year-old surnamed Hsieh (謝), the establishment's 59-year-old accountant, surnamed Yen (顏), a 31-year-old drug supplier surnamed Huang (黃) and a Vietnamese national surnamed Ta (謝) who is 42 and was found in possession of drugs.

The Vietnamese nationals are being processed by the National Immigration Agency in Pingtung and Kaohsiung.

The police said working under an anti-drug program initiated by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office, it has made arrests in 1,419 drug cases from the beginning of 2024 to June 27.

That figure represented an increase of 125 cases on the 1,294 recorded during the same period last year.

Of the drug cases this year, police said 22 involved synthetic cathinone NPS, during which 21,438 packets of the drug were confiscated, 9,891 more than the same time last year.