A smuggling scandal implicating Taiwan's presidential bodyguards has engulfed China Airlines after the island's largest carrier revealed huge quantities of duty-free cigarettes were routinely sold to staff accompanying the island's leader on visits overseas.
The scandal comes as Tsai seeks a second term in a January presidential election against Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party. The scam was initially exposed on Monday when the customs department announced that an agent within Tsai's entourage tried to bring in 9,800 cigarette cartons through a VIP lane as they returned from an official trip to the Caribbean.
Figures released by the airline on Thursday showed inexplicably high quantities of duty-free cigarettes were routinely ordered ahead of presidential trips. Taiwan's customs law limits travellers to a maximum five cartons of cigarettes -- and only one can be tax-free.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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