China Airlines execs removed amid cigarette smuggling scandal
Two China Airlines executives were removed from their positions as pressure mounts over a cigarette smuggling scandal at the airline.
Senior vice president Lo Ya-mei has been moved to executive assistant to the chairman and Chui Chang-hsin has been reassigned as a senior specialist to the airline’s president.
Part of vice president Chui’s responsibilities was to oversee duty-free product sales.
Both executives were part of the recent overseas 12-day trip by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to the US and Caribbean aboard a China Airlines plane.
National Security Bureau agents accompanying the president used the overseas trip to allegedly smuggle nearly 10,000 cartons of cigarettes into Taiwan.
The retail value of the cigarettes was nearly $200,000.
The agents allegedly ordered the cigarettes via the airline’s online duty-free store and attempted to collect them on their return to Taiwan last week.
They were loaded onto government vehicles in the Presidential motorcade but were stopped bu customs officers after a tip-off.
CAL has come under heavy criticism for allowing such a huge order of duty free goods.
The normal allowance is just one carton of cigarettes per person.
The airline said it is investigating other executives in charge of arrangements for previous Presidential or other government flights.
One government security agent was detained for questioning while employees at the CAL-owned Pacific Catering Services Ltd are also being investigated.
The Taiwan President personally apologised and admitted that cigarette smuggling has been taking place for years.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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