Police said Chang has sold some 17 million such tablets through various department stores in Taiwan over the last five years and has earned more than NT$100 million from the sales.

Chang, who sold cosmetics, is very familiar with marketing products through department stores, according to the police.

The police were tipped off about the possible presence of illicit substances in the tablets by the mother of flight attendant who became addicted to the tablets and committed suicide recently.

Chang told police that she found the medication in Shanghai several years ago and began using it herself. After discovering the effectiveness of the tablets, she began smuggling them into Taiwan via various channels.

Although claiming that the tablets only contain traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Chang revealed that she also suffered from bouts of depression after starting to take the tablets, which police said they believe is one of the side-effects of the substances contained in the tablets.