According to TaiwanNews on July 31, the largest e-cigarette factory in the history of Taiwan was successfully raided in Taichung City. The Taichung Health Bureau in Taiwan stated that this incident marks the largest e-cigarette factory to be uncovered in Taiwan since the revision of the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act in March of last year, which banned e-cigarettes. The factory had an estimated market value of 140.6 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 4.28 million USD).
According to reports, the Taiwan Taichung Health Bureau and the Police Department received intelligence in December last year that a criminal group had secretly established a large-scale e-cigarette smuggling factory in Taichung. Subsequently, the Health Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Police Department jointly established a special task force to conduct an investigation. It wasn't until May last year that investigators pinpointed three locations, including the Beitun District and the North District of Taichung City, where the criminal group had repeatedly relocated the factory during the investigation.
During this operation, over 10.15 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately $308,800 USD) in illegal cash and 940,000 e-cigarette pods were confiscated, involving brands such as "RELX," "TROY," "SP2S," and "LANA." Additionally, investigators also discovered over 13,000 electronic liquid vaporizers, three large barrels of nicotine, 306 cans of pod flavors, and other related devices.
The married couple surnamed Zhang and the married couple surnamed Li, who are suspected of being the masterminds, along with six Thai migrant workers with expired visas, have been named as the key suspects. Investigators believe that these suspects illegally imported nicotine and e-cigarette raw materials from mainland China, which are mainly sold on foreign websites.
The suspects may face charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act. In addition, they are also suspected of violating Article 41 of the Tax Collection Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
According to the relevant laws, the production, import, sale, and use of e-cigarettes can be fined up to 50 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 1.53 million US dollars). Even regular e-cigarette users may face fines ranging from 2,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 61 US dollars) to 10,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 304 US dollars).
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