A recent Coast Guard Administration (CGA) raid of fishing boats suspected of smuggling cigarettes has led to the largest seizure of illegal tobacco in central Taiwan in the past 10 years, officials from the coast guard’s Central Coastal Patrol Office said.
The haul of 778 boxes of cigarettes, worth close to NT$30 million (US$990,000), was found aboard two fishing vessels in Wuci Township Harbor (梧棲漁港), Taichung County, following an investigation in which four Coast Guard units were mobilized by the Taichung Prosecutors Office.
According to the Central Coastal Patrol Office, Taichung authorities received intelligence a month ago that cigarettes were being smuggled on fishing boats for sale in Taiwan during the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations.
Authorities said a Chinese-registered vessel smuggled the cigarettes from the Philippines before offloading the contraband to the Penghu-registered vessel Shun De Cheng and Taichung-registered vessel Hong Shun, in waters around the Penghu Islands (澎湖花嶼).
When the two vessels stopped at an inspection site in Wuci -Harbor on Thursday, investigators were standing by to search the vessels.
Initial drilling in the hollow-walled hold of the ship led to the discovery of plastic bags containing cigarettes. After removing the walls, investigators eventually found a total of 370,000 packs of different brands of cigarettes, in an investigation that went through the night and continued into Friday afternoon, authorities said.
The seized cigarettes will be destroyed according to the law, the tobacco and alcohol section of Taichung County’s Department of Finance said.
Smuggling tobacco is punishable by a fine of between NT$50,000 and NT$500,000. If the smuggled goods are worth more than NT$500,000 then the overall value of the cigarettes is used to calculate the fine, authorities said.
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