According to Taiwannews, the police in Taoyuan, Taiwan conducted a raid on an illegal cigarette factory on November 1, seizing a large quantity of tobacco intended for the production of illegal cigarettes. Police revealed that the batch of leaves had been legally imported from Vietnam by a suspect surnamed Tang, who had initially claimed that they were meant for fertilizers and insecticides, but instead used them for the production of low-quality cigarettes.
Police revealed that in April 2023, a father and son surnamed Zheng operated two illegal cigarette factories in Pingzhen and Guishan, Taoyuan. The finished cigarettes were mainly sold in night markets, flea markets, and areas where foreign laborers gather. The price was only one-third of that of legal cigarettes, but the nicotine and tar content far exceeded the legal standards, posing a threat to health.
This batch of illegal cigarettes has a market value of approximately 25 million New Taiwan dollars (around 770,000 US dollars), but manages to evade taxes of nearly 13.8 million New Taiwan dollars. It has been handed over to the Taoyuan City Treasury for processing, with a potential maximum fine of 10 million New Taiwan dollars.
