The Taiwanese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has been rocked by a drug case.

According to CPBL STATS, a Taiwanese baseball news site, on April 4, the CPBL suspended foreign pitcher Emilio Vargas, 27, for life under the league’s Banned Substances Testing Procedures and Penalties Act. His team, the Zhongxin Brothers, subsequently released a statement saying they had terminated Vargas’ contract in accordance with the league’s zero-tolerance policy and contractual provisions.

Vargas met World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) testing standards in all categories during a routine drug test in August. However, an outlier for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC – the psychoactive component of cannabis) was the sticking point. The federation retested Vargas in late September, and the second test still showed a positive result for THC, which exceeded the limit. A third test was negative, but the termination was finalized under the zero-tolerance policy.

Vargas, a native of the Dominican Republic, has never played in the big leagues. In his nine-year minor league career, he is 46-46 with a 3.73 ERA. This season, he joined the CPBL and started 10 games, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.55 ERA in 67 innings. However, an unexpected drug issue forced him to leave the team.

According to CPBL STATS, the CPBL is governed by the Banned Substance Testing Suspension and Punishment Act, Article 8, Section 3, which states that “any player who tests positive for drugs in a routine test conducted by a foreign judicial authority, whether during domestic or foreign periods, shall be permanently banned from employment. Marijuana is categorized as a Schedule 2 drug, along with amphetamines and ecstasy. A conviction for using a Schedule 2 drug is punishable by up to three years in prison. As such, Vargas’s drug bust is not something to take lightly.카지노사이트

In the past, banned substances have often been caught in the CPBL. Francisco Cruceta and Lunelvis Hernandez in 2013 and Kyle Simon in 2017 were suspended for related issues.