Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Customs

Kaohsiung, Aug. 20 (CNA) Kaohsiung Customs seized 216,000 packs of cigarettes worth NT$11 million (US$357,351) on the market that were being smuggled into the country in a shipment documented as consisting of ceramic tiles.

With the help of big data analytics, customs officials targeted and raided two suspicious containers that arrived on Aug. 18 in Kaohsiung Port on a cargo ship from Xiamen and were to be transferred to the Philippines, Kaohsiung Customs said Monday.

The two 20-foot containers arrived at the port with documents declaring their contents as ceramic tiles, but custom officers identified the goods in one of the containers as popular brand "Maple" brand cigarettes worth NT$11 million, the customs bureau said.

The cigarettes were seized for violating the Customs Anti-smuggling Act and the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act.

The operations came after Kaohsiung Customs seized 112 kilograms of ketamine that they said had a street value of NT$100 million during an inspection of a cargo ship that sailed from Malaysia to Kaohsiung on Aug. 8.

(By Chen Chi-fong and Evelyn Kao)
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