Police seize NT$100 million worth of mephedrone in Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung, Dec. 14 (CNA) Criminal investigators in Kaohsiung raided a mephedrone manufacturing site on Saturday, arresting three suspects and seizing drugs with an estimated market value of NT$100 million (US$3.18 million).

The Kaohsiung City Police Department's Renwu Precinct said Sunday that the site was located in a hilly area of Dashu District in the southern Taiwan city.

The factory, which produced the Category III narcotic known colloquially as "meow meow," was allegedly set up by a man surnamed Hsin (辛), with the help of two assistants surnamed Lee (李) and Yen (顏), the department said.

After receiving a tip-off about the site, officers from the Renwu Precinct formed a task force with other units of the Kaohsiung City Police Department, including the Hunei Precinct, the department said.

The case was then referred to Prosecutor Liang Yung-chun (梁詠鈞) of the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office, who led the investigation, police said.

After several days of collecting evidence and tracking the suspects, police said, they mobilized a large team and carried out a raid at around 1 p.m. on Saturday, arresting the three people.

Police said that during the raid, they seized drug manufacturing equipment, more than 47 kilograms of finished mephedrone, and about 300 kilograms of unfinished product.

The mephedrone that was seized could have been made into about 400,000 drug packets for distribution, with an estimated market value of NT$100 million, according to police.

Hsieh Hsien-chung (謝憲忠), head of the investigation team at the Renwu Precinct, said the case has been transferred to the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office for potential indictments under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.