The Customs Administration yesterday announced it had confiscated more than 3,000 masks from a Taiwanese woman who had them in her checked luggage for a flight to Singapore, the biggest individual contravention since a ban on mask exports was implemented on Jan. 24.
Under the ban, which is to end on April 30, each passenger can take no more than five boxes of masks, or 250 masks in total, on a flight abroad.
The number of mask contraventions by flight passengers had significantly declined since the second half of last month, customs officials said.
However, a woman scheduled to fly to Singapore on Tuesday was found to have 3,270 masks in her luggage, they said.
She was allowed to keep the legal maximum of 250 masks and the rest were sent to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, they added.
Customs officials are also screening mailed packages, flight cargo and express company deliveries, and since Jan. 24, 851 violations have been detected, with a total of 171,450 masks being confiscated.
While fewer airline passengers appear to be trying to carry more than the legally permitted number of masks out of the country, the ban does not seemed to have stopped people from trying to send masks abroad through Chunghwa Post services or express delivery companies, they said.
The customs office at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport seized a total of 3,289 masks in 48 packages on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Customs Administration said it would intensify the screening of packages sent through the post office and express delivery services, adding any masks found would be confiscated, regardless of the number.
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