Taiwan produces no opium poppies; all the heroin and morphine come from the Golden Triangle area in Indo-China or the Chinese mainland. Except for a rare case in 1989, there has been no cultivation of marijuana in Taiwan; it is smuggled in from abroad. There used to be a number of illegal labs in Taiwan that smuggled in from the Chinese mainland ephedrine (a medically important sympathomimetic substance for the alleviation of common cold and asthma) to synthesize methamphetamine. The MJIB agents raided six of these labs in 1992, seven in 1993, and more than ten in 1994 and the first seven months of 1995, forcing other operators to move their operations to the Chinese mainland from which they smuggle into Taiwan finished product or half-product of methamphetamine. Cocaine is rarely seen in Taiwan and there have been few reported cases. Thus, we can say that almost all narcotic drugs are not locally produced and are smuggled in from abroad.

As Taiwan's drug problem has a relatively short history, there has, so far, been no strong, well-organized, nation-wide drug syndicate as is the case in many Western countries that have been plagued by drugs for decades. It is also interesting to note that Taiwan's underworld used to have a long- revered "drug taboo" which was said to have been vigorously enforced. But as the old generation disappeared from the scene, younger leaders can no longer resist the lucrative temptation of the drug trade. As late as January 1994, MJIB broke the first smuggle case where heroin and pistols were found together. In a more recent case in May 1994, where police seized more than 100 kilograms of heroin, the trafficker revealed that drug dealers in northern Thailand gave buyers free of charge a Chinese mainland-made " Black Star" handgun for every 10 kilograms of heroin sold. The purpose behind such a move is more than obvious. As there is a large market for drugs in Taiwan, it has become the target for international drug dealers. And the marriage between drugs and guns seems inevitable.