The arrest of 22 young people at an orgy-at-sea Saturday raised the total number of people nabbed for drug use or selling to a record of 120 at the just concluded four-day musical festival in the area of Kenting National Park, Pingtung County, in southern Taiwan.
This year's annual festival featuring pop music performance at 10 concerts drew tens of thousands of fans, mainly young people, was touted as the biggest ever since its launch by two Americans 13 years ago for musicians who needed a stage to show their talent and skills.
It also saw the largest number of participants arrested for using and peddling illicit drugs despite early warnings from law enforcement agents and the Pingtung County Government.
More than 600 police officers, aided by sniffer dogs and cutting-edge detecting equipment, were assigned to crack down on drug use and trading, said a senior police officer yesterday.
Not a single day went by without suspects being arrested for drug use, dealing, and possession during the four-day event, he said.
Those detained for investigation included 22 of 55 participants at a previously unheard of orgy staged on a boat at sea, according to the police.
Those attending the orgy, a gathering of unrestrained indulgence in alcohol, drug, and possibly sexual activities, included 28 women and 27 men aged under 30 from northern Taiwan.
They were mostly attracted by an advertisement on the organizers' Web site. They collectively paid NT$59,000 to rent a boat that departed from Houpihu near Kenting at 4 p.m. last Friday and returned at 10 a.m. Saturday
Acting on a tip, police met the party-goers upon their return, at which time 22 of them tested positive for drugs.
The drugs confiscated at the four-day festival covered a wide variety of illegal products ranging from Ketamine, ecstasy pills, and Erinim pills to marijuana, police said.
Police conceded that many people using or possessing the drugs were able to get away because they met mostly at private houses rented from owners through earlier arrangements.
In order to stem the surge in drug abuse, the Ministry of Justice has kicked off this month a new anti-drug drive in cooperation with other government agencies like the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Education, and the Department of Health (DOH), the Council of Labor Affairs, and local city and county governments
Chu Kun-mao, an official at the MOJ, noted that the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) has designated each of the three years from 2005 to 2008 as the "Anti-Drug Campaign Year" to demonstrate the government's determination of waging a war against drug abuse.
Premier Su Tseng-chang also listed cracking down on illicit drugs a top priority among his overall anti-crime campaign.
The Cabinet allocated a fund of NT$57 million last year to assist local-level governments to set up drug hazards prevention and control centers around the island.
A thorough review of the operations of these centers will be carried out before the end of April in order to help them tackle problems they have encountered so as to lift the efficiency of their operations, Chu added.
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