A Taiwanese man has won more than NT$20mil (S$873,598) in the past two years with his drugged pigeons.

Shen Xiang Hong, 51, has been taking part in pigeon racing for years and has lost tens of millions of dollar in the sport.

Two years ago, a news report of athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs to boost their power inspired him.

He was wondering if his pigeons would 'benefit' from such drugs. He injected amphetamine into his pigeons' body and the results were encouraging.

Since then, his pigeons had not let him down and won him over NT$20mil of prize money.

But the joy of winning came to an end on Wednesday when police arrested Shen for processing and taking drugs, Taiwan's China Times reported.

He was caught red-handed at a drug laboratory in Pingtung.

Police seized some drugged pigeons, amphetamine and drug-making equipment from the premises.

Shen said he first purchased the drug from a friend but was always given fake amphetamine.

Later, he obtained the secret of processing amphetamine from another friend and started making his own drug.