TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A remote drug manufacturing site was found to be extracting pseudoephedrine from cold and rhinitis tablets for methamphetamine production, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) confirmed on Tuesday (Sept. 26).
Three individuals were apprehended in the raid, a 30-year-old surnamed Chang (張), a 29-year-old surnamed Chen (陳), and a 26-year-old surnamed Tu (涂). The trio stands accused of subjecting 200,000 pills to a chemical extraction process to produce illicit drugs, per Liberty Times.
Police from Kaohsiung’s Gushan Precinct said that Chang had learned online how to take cold medicine and rhinitis pills that contained pseudoephedrine, a stimulant frequently used as a decongestant, and distill it into methamphetamine. He then enlisted his two associates, and police said the group was careful to operate in secrecy, installing outdoor security monitors to alert themselves to strangers.
In Jan. 2023, Chang rented a sheet metal house near Qieding Wetland (茄萣) to store his drug-making tools. In Feb., the trio ventured out separately to purchase large amounts of drugs from pharmacies across Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Police estimated that NT$1 million (US$30,000) was spent on 200,000 tablets, and refining and drug manufacturing began in March. At one point during the drug-making process, Chang lost control of the chemical reaction, causing a fire that partially damaged some of their equipment.
Police eventually raided the premises leading to the arrest of all three individuals. A total of 22 kg of finished pseudoephedrine drug was confiscated, along with 318.73 kg of semi-finished powder, and 508 kilograms of liquid semi-finished product.
The finished and semi-finished drug products were sent to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) for testing, which confirmed the presence of pseudoephedrine which can be readily distilled into methamphetamine. The estimated market value of the seizure is NT$56 million, the largest methamphetamine drug bust in Kaohsiung this year.
