Man arrested with marijuana cookies

SECOND-DEGREE:Marijuana is considered a serious drug in Taiwan, with penalties for growing, distribution or importing offenses of seven years to life in prison

Staff writer, with CNA

A 32-year-old Taiwanese man was arrested at Kaohsiung International Airport with packets of marijuana cookies that he was allegedly trying to bring into the nation, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said on Wednesday.

The man was carrying 76 packets of cookies that were labeled in three different flavors — cheese, popcorn and rice — but were laced with marijuana, the ministry said in a statement.

The cookies were seized during a raid at the Kaohsiung airport on Friday last week, based on a tip-off a few months earlier that such cookies were being sold at nightclubs and pubs in southern Taiwan, the statement said.

The bureau and the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office launched an investigation following the tip and identified the suspect, surnamed Tsung (叢), who was believed to be selling the illegal cookies, the statement said.

It is alleged that Tsung was buying the marijuana cookies from unlicensed factories in California at a price of NT$300 per packet. Tsung had allegedly succeeded in smuggling one batch into Taiwan, the ministry said.

However, on Friday two customs sniffer dogs indicated they detected something in Tsung’s luggage, which was searched by investigators and found to contain 6.1kg of marijuana cookies and other regular snacks, the bureau said.

The suspect was able to move freely and frequently between Taiwan and the US because he holds a US green card, the bureau said.

Tsung’s parents reside in California, while his grandmother lives in Kaohsiung, the ministry said.

Marijuana cookies are a snack made using cannabis in herbal or resin form as an ingredient.

Marijuana is listed as a second-degree drug in Taiwan and the penalty for growing, importing or selling it is a prison sentence of seven years to life.