9 get prison over Taiwan's largest cannabis growing operation

Taipei, Feb. 4 (CNA) The Hsinchu District Court has handed prison sentences ranging from four to ten years to nine men in connection with the largest cannabis growing operation ever uncovered in Taiwan.

Nearly 6,000 cannabis plants as well as various cannabis products with a total market value of NT$2 billion (US$60.81 million) were seized, according to the court's verdict released recently.

A man surnamed Chih (池) was sentenced to ten years for organizing crime syndicates and producing category-two narcotics.

Another seven were sentenced to four years or five years and four months for participating in a crime syndicate and producing category two narcotics.

Another man, surnamed Lin (林), was sentenced to six years and two months, as he was additionally found guilty of electricity theft.

A tenth individual was handed over to the Juvenile Court because he was underage at the time of the crime.

The ruling can be appealed.

The ten were found to have cultivated cannabis plants in two separate warehouses in Hsinchu County, as well as harvesting the plants and producing them into products to sell between August 2023 and May 2024, according to the verdict.

Meanwhile, Lin was found to have also tampered with the electric meters at one of the warehouses.

During the plantation, a total of 1.3 million kWh of power was estimated to have been consumed and uncharged, totaling an electricity fee of NT$5.39 million, the verdict said.