TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police arrested a German bartender for possessing marijuana cookies among other forms of cannabis and related paraphernalia on June 1 in New Taipei's Tamsui.
In May, Tamsui Precinct police received a tip that a person had drugs at a bar on Zhongzheng East Road near the Blue Riverside Hotel, reported EBC News. When conducting a raid on June 1, police found marijuana cookies, a THC vape cartridge, a marijuana pipe, and two ecstasy pills in the German bartender's backpack.
In addition to the 41-year-old German, three American men, a Japanese man, and a Hong Kong woman who were sitting at the bar were taken back to the station for urine tests. Police said the bartender came to Taiwan in 2020 on a tourist visa but had been working illegally as a bartender and overstayed his visa by four years.

After questioning, the bartender was transferred to the New Taipei District Prosecutor's Office to be investigated for violating the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例) and the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). In addition to facing drug possession charges, he will be deported following the conclusion of the trial and any penalties imposed.
