Police in Chiayi searched 19 newly built townhouses across Chiayi City and County on 22 February 2021, after rental contracts found at the first address led them to the rest.[1] They detained 34-year-old Zhou and a man surnamed Li and referred both for drug offences.[1]
Officers seized 1,421 live plants and 227 dried plants, more than 4 kg of dried buds, plus dryers, grow lights, exhaust equipment and soil.[1] The growers had rented the houses during the window before neighbours moved in, sealed windows and air-conditioner openings with boards, and grown the plants around the clock under custom lights, packing buds in small “mountain high” tins for sale.[1] Police said the monthly rent alone topped NT$500,000.[2]
Value questioned
Police valued the haul at more than NT$500 million, counting about 300 grams of buds per plant at NT$1,000 per gram.[1][2] After social-media users accused the police of inflating the figure, the county police said every force used the same arithmetic and denied padding the total.[2] County magistrate Weng Chang-liang visited the seized plants on 23 February, and the National Police Agency director-general came the next day.[2]
