A Taiwanese woman was stopped by police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday with NT$4.8 million (US$145,015) in cash concealed in her check-in and carry-on luggage, aviation police said.
The woman — surnamed Lung (龍) — intended to board a flight to Bangkok on Tuesday night, but something suspicious was found in her luggage during an X-ray security check, police said.
After a thorough examination, NT$4.8 million in NT$1,000 bills was found concealed in her bags, police said.
The money was seized because it exceeded the maximum NT$100,000 in cash air passengers are allowed to take out of the nation when they leave.
Lung was not allowed to board her flight, but was allowed to return home after being questioned, police said, adding that she told them she was taking the money to Bangkok to purchase a house.Police said that the money would be returned to the woman.
There are no penalties for taking excessive amounts of New Taiwan dollars out of the nation, but penalties do exist for leaving Taiwan with foreign currencies exceeding the maximum amount permitted.
Since Dec. 1, a total of NT$44.09 million has been seized at the airport after several travelers attempted to take more than NT$100,000 out of the nation, aviation police said.
On Dec. 1, a South Korean woman was intercepted while attempting to take NT$1.9 million out of the nation.
The next day, a Taiwanese woman heading to Jakarta with NT$16.6 million in cash concealed in her luggage was stopped by airport police.
On Dec. 10, a Taiwanese man and an Indonesian man were stopped separately after they attempted to take a combined NT$2.5 million in cash out of the nation.
On Saturday, a woman from Hong Kong was intercepted after she attempted to take four 1kg gold bars worth nearly NT$5 million out of Taiwan.
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