Prosecutors in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, indicted five suspects over a major tobacco smuggling operation uncovered in August, involving contraband cigarettes and heated tobacco products transported by fishing vessels. Authorities seized more than one million packages of undeclared tobacco products worth an estimated NT$100 million ($3.2 million), marking one of the largest busts in the city’s history.
The operation followed months of surveillance by a joint task force comprising police, coast guard personnel, and prosecutors, who tracked three fishing boats suspected of collecting illicit cargo from foreign vessels outside Taiwan’s territorial waters before docking at Singda Harbor.
All seized products were confiscated, and the suspects—three boat captains and two truck drivers—were indicted for violating the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act, prosecutors said.
