By Hung Ting-hung / Staff reporterCoast Guard Administration （CGA） patrol ships last week seized contraband cigarettes worth an estimated NT$110 million （US$3.9 million）, after uncovering a smuggling operation that originated in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday.
Coast guard nabs ship loaded with illegal cigarettes
By Hung Ting-hung / Staff reporter
Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol ships last week seized contraband cigarettes worth an estimated NT$110 million (US$3.9 million), after uncovering a smuggling operation that originated in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday.
It was the first time a cigarette-smuggling operation was discovered near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), coast guard officials said.
The coast guard was holding live-fire exercises on the Pratas Islands on Monday last week and Tuesday, when on Saturday last week, the CGA detected a suspicious cargo ship in the area, the officials said.