Over 80 kg of semi-finished ketamine seized by police in Sanzhi District
Taiwan Times
Date: 2019/08/28
By: Central News Agency
TAIPEI (CNA) – Police seized over 80 kilograms of drugs in a raid on a ketamine factory in New Taipei on Monday and arrested five people believed to have been running the operation, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) reported Wednesday (Aug. 28).
Acting on a tip-off, investigators from the Shilin District Prosecutors' Office raided the illegal facility, which was housed in a rented residence in New Taipei's Sanzhi District, the CIB said at a news conference. During the raid, investigators arrested five suspects and seized 0.38 kg of ketamine, 80 kg of semi-finished drugs, manufacturing equipment, raw materials, and 279 barrels of ethanol, toluene, and ethyl acetate, the bureau said.
Two of the suspects — a 57-year-old man surnamed Liu and a 69-year-old man identified as Lin — allegedly were funding the operation and had hired the other three people to work there, according to the CIB. One suspect, a 36-year-old terminal cancer patient surnamed Lai, had been paid NT$1 million (US$33,000) to manage the production of the ketamine, the CIB said.
In April, Lai traveled to Malaysia to learn how to manufacture ketamine, before returning to Taiwan via Cambodia, the bureau said. The other two people arrested were identified as Chen, 27, who worked as Lai's assistant, and a storehouse guard surnamed Ho, 41. [FULL STORY]