Vietnamese Migrant Workers Arrested for Operating Drug-Making Cafe in Taichung Campsite, Four Indicted

(CNA) - A Vietnamese migrant worker, identified by the surname Huang, along with several compatriots, rented a campsite in Taichung's Taiping District to serve as a base for drug-making and distribution of "party drug" coffee packets to fellow migrant workers. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) apprehended Huang and three others, who have since been indicted on drug charges by the prosecutor's office.

The CIB's Central Taiwan Criminal Investigation Corps announced today that in November 2025, they received a referral from the Taiwan Taichung District Prosecutors Office regarding Vietnamese migrant workers involved in the manufacturing and sale of drug-laced coffee packets to their compatriots in the greater Taichung area.

The CIB's Third Team, in collaboration with the Taiping Precinct and Daya Precinct of the Taichung City Police Department, the Cybercrime Division of the Taoyuan City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Corps, the Guiren Precinct of the Tainan City Police Department, and the Taichung Special Investigation Team of the Immigration Agency, formed a task force to conduct surveillance and gather evidence.

On February 6, 2026, law enforcement officers apprehended the suspects, including the Vietnamese migrant worker surnamed Huang, in Taichung's Taiping, East, and Central Districts. They seized 2,256 packets of third-class drug coffee, 2 kilograms of finished 4-methylmethcathinone (a third-class drug), 34 bags of ketamine (gross weight 406 grams), 10 bags of methamphetamine (gross weight 336 grams), and equipment for packaging the drug-laced coffee.

Police investigation revealed that the main suspect, 33-year-old Vietnamese migrant worker Huang, along with his compatriots, 25-year-old Wu, 35-year-old Huang, and 32-year-old Ruan, used a straw buyer to rent a campsite in Taichung's Taiping District as their base for parties and the packaging and sale of drug-laced coffee packets. To evade detection by law enforcement, the drug trafficking group exclusively sold to fellow Vietnamese migrant workers.

Police stated that the seized precursor material for the drug-laced coffee packets, approximately 2 kilograms of the third-class drug 4-methylmethcathinone, could have been used to produce over 30,000 more packets, potentially serving over 30,000 users. Fortunately, the task force's timely intervention prevented further distribution of these drugs. Following police questioning, Huang and the other three individuals were transferred to the Taichung District Prosecutors Office for investigation and have since been indicted by the prosecutor's office. (Editor: Chang Ming-kun) 0625