[Photo: FRCS FACEBOOK]
A foreign fishing vessel has been caught carrying 8,340 undeclared cigarettes worth $65,230, following a search by the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service.
The cigarettes were seized by the FRCS Suva Maritime Compliance Team when the vessel arrived last Friday.
Customs officers uncovered the undeclared tobacco products hidden in hard-to-access areas of the vessel in what FRCS described as sophisticated concealment methods intended to evade detection.
FRCS says the interception followed targeted risk profiling, intelligence shared by counterpart agencies and searches by Customs officers. The Fiji Detector Dogs Unit also assisted in the operation.
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The $65,230 valuation represents the potential government revenue at stake from the undeclared cigarettes.
FRCS did not specify whether any arrests had been made or whether charges had been laid in connection with the seizure.
FRCS states it is strengthening maritime enforcement through intelligence sharing and cooperation with partner agencies.
It maintains that its operations are aimed at detecting illicit goods, combating smuggling, protecting government revenue and securing Fiji’s borders.