Looking at news report on this it seemed like an odd brand of cigarettes was chosen, presumably there’s a specific market for them.
Given the number of people being implicated at this point surely the return per person must be low, doesn’t seem worth it even if they got away with it many times in the past.
Assuming a huge profit of 100% on the cigs, that’s ~6KK NT to share which doesn’t work out to all that much per person given these guys are supposedly already on relatively healthy salaries.
Ya these numbers dint really add up. More than likely the damage control mentioned above making fake news is actually the cigs covering up something worse. The gov here has a really long history of trafficking…no one is really buying the cig thing but accept it.
Interetingly, though this enetrprise has been going on for several administrations, data from before 2014 was “lost” when they changed the system. Figures…
Information obtained by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) indicates that the cigarette smuggling scandal revealed Monday, which allegedly involved national security agents in collaboration with CAL employees, was not the first of its kind, Wang said.
CNA says since 2014 since previosu data is “unobtainable”, as per TV news. Imagine that.
They got greedy, too many at a time. And selfish. The truth is that these government officials are used to certain perks…And old habits die hard. The cigarettes are worth a bundle because of the amount…And actual retail price with taxes. In truth, smuggling cigarettes is a serious problem nowadays in Taiwan and bigger shipments have been caught from smugglers or fake ones found. It is big business as people here like cheap stuff and smuggling from China is seen as normal, plus the amount of smokers is catastrophic.
Of course, the narrative in media is that this is proof of corrupted DPP government, and that Tsai is financing her campaign selling cigarettes. That is what you get for blowing the whistle.
The saddest part is this is NSB, which already has a tainted reputation and a doubtful allegiance.