Man caught trying to smuggle cash out of Taiwan
2016/01/22 23:17:39
Taipei, Jan. 22 (CNA) A man was caught trying to smuggle a large sum of Taiwanese dollars out of the country at the Taoyuan International Airport on Friday.
Aviation police said the 66-year-old man, surnamed Yu (俞), was scheduled to take a plane at 2:15 p.m for Hong Kong, but was stopped at an X-ray check and discovered to have cash worth NT$10.5 million (US$313,770) hidden in a fruit gift box.
On Thursday, another man surnamed Wang (王), was also caught with around NT$1.5 million hidden in a special belt and stockings. The 41-year-old man claimed that he wanted to use the money to buy groceries in Hong Kong.
The law requires passengers and transportation service personnel traveling into and out of the country to declare foreign currency in their possession that is valued at more than US$10,000, or if they are carrying more than 20,000 Chinese yuan.
With a spate of incidents involving passengers trying to smuggle out Taiwan dollars recently, police are suspecting an organization may be behind the incidents.
(By Chiu Chun-chin and Lilian Wu)
