NT$10 million in smuggled tobacco seized in Pingtung.

May 29, 2018 by adminficci News 0 comments

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) busted a tobacco smuggling operation in Pingtung County late Monday night and seized NT$10 million (US$333,667) worth of smuggled cigarettes, the CGA said Tuesday.
In a statement, the CGA said officers from its southern office seized 160,000 packs of untaxed cigarettes with a market value of NT$10 million from a Donggang-registered fishing boat called the “Chang Sheng” and arrested five crew members, including the captain.
The CGA, which worked on the case with the Kaohsiung Harbor Police Department, said the busting of the smuggling operation came after a month of effort following up on tip-offs and collecting evidence on the fishing boat’s moves.

Just after the fishing boat arrived in Donggang at around 11 p.m. Monday, CGA officers boarded the vessel and conducted a search that found the 160,000 packs of cigarettes stuffed into 331 big boxes hidden in the lower deck of the boat, the CGA said.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201805290013.aspx