TAIPEI: Coast guard officers seized a cache of untaxed cigarettes worth about NT$10 million (US$306,044) aboard a fishing boat in southern Taiwan Monday.
The Southern Coastal Patrol Office under the Coast Guard Administration said that it was tipped off recently that a fishing boat, the Cheng Chi Fa, registered in Kaohsiung’s Hsinta Harbor, was engaged in cigarette smuggling.
Coast guard officers boarded the ship in waters around 33 nautical miles off Zuoying and seized the cigarettes in 402 boxes hidden in the ship’s cabin.
Cheng Chun-jie, deputy director of the office, said that due to the health tax imposed by the government in recent years, cigarette prices have continued to climb, resulting in more smuggling.
The office will continue to track down the source of the cigarettes and the masterminds behind the operation, Cheng said.
