Local police arrested a man in New Taipei City who was allegedly growing cannabis inside his apartment. 

An anonymous tip alerted the police that someone was growing cannabis in an apartment building. This was proved correct when police conducted a raid last week and seized 83 pots of cannabis in an apartment. A 41-year-old man identified only as Chang was also arrested. 

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The confiscated cannabis were estimated to be valued at $600,000 (NT$20 million).  

It was discovered that apart from buying cannabis seeds, Chang also purchased several DVDs about growing cannabis from an online shop based in the United Kingdom. After resigning from a technology company, Chang set up an online auctioning website and decided to start the illegal business of growing and selling the illegal narcotic. 

Chang was already looking for buyers when the arrest was made. 

Cannabis is included in category two of Taiwan's Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act.

If convicted of his intention to sell, Chang will face a minimum of five years in jail and will be fined up to NT$5 million, as stipulated in the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act's Article 5. 

Meanwhile, Chang's supplier will also be penalized with a minimum of two years jail time and can be fined up to NT$200,000. 

Taiwan is one of the countries where legalizing marijuana or cannabis is almost impossible. Being a category two narcotic, the government considers marijuana a "danger to society." Likewise, cultivation, transport, sale, possession, or influencing someone to use it is illegal. Those convicted can be slapped with a fine of up to $300,000 (NT$10 million) and lifetime imprisonment.

Tagscannabis, marijuana, narcotics in Taiwan, cannabis seeds, illegal