Police raided an illegal cigarette factory in Changhua County on Friday, detaining one suspect and seizing 5 tonnes of tobacco, the Taoyuan Police Department said yesterday.
A total of 315 bundles of unfinished tobacco were seized, each weighing about 17kg, which could have been used to make about 3.15 million cigarettes, the city’s Jhongli Police Precinct said, adding that it could have had a market value of about NT$20 million (US$614,893).
The precinct said it formed a special task force with government agencies in Changhua, Nantou and Pingtung counties to investigate illegal tobacco cases.
Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan City Police Department via CNA
As a result, the cigarette factory in Changhua was uncovered and dismantled, precinct deputy head Kao Hai-yuan (高海源) said.
During the operation, a 35-year-old man surnamed Chiang (江) was arrested and cigarette-making machines were seized, he added.
A follow-up investigation would focus on identifying other people involved in the operation, Kao said.
The cigarette factory had been operating for about three months and mainly sold its products to migrant workers, he said.
Precinct head Lin Ting-tai (林鼎泰) said that a task force of more than 100 police officers was mobilized on Saturday and they conducted sweeps at 16 nightclubs, hostess bars and other entertainment venues on the four main roads in the district.
Over the past week, the precinct has solved 121 criminal cases (including 27 fraud cases), arrested 102 people and captured 41 wanted criminals, Lin said.
From April 9 to Tuesday last week, the precinct also cracked 21 fraud rings, arresting 119 suspects and detaining 14 people, he added.
The operation led to the confiscation of NT$11.82 million, he said.
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