Granddaughter fined 15M THB for cigarette smuggling.
Officials from the Rayong Police Station, officials from the Excise department, and related officials arrested Pisamai 53 years old and Somradee 34 years old on 1 May 2020. Somradee is the granddaughter who helped the auntie smuggle 37 crates of cigarettes coming to a total of 1,892 cartons of cigarettes or 18,920 packs of cigarettes worth over 200,000 THB. Officials received notification from detectives that there are people who have smuggled cigarettes from Cambodia into the country.
Officials went to inspect an apartment room in the main city of Rayong. Both suspects were moving the cigarettes into a 3 wheeled motorbike. The cigarettes were hidden on a piece of land 10 meters away from the apartment. Both suspects were arrested on the spot and delivered to the police station. Both relatives have violated Section 204 in the Excise Act B.E.2560 (2017) with intentions to sell the smuggled cigarettes in the country.
Pisamai stated that she had ordered the cigarettes from a neighboring country. This is the 2nd time she had received a delivery from the sellers, the first time was at the beginning of April. The first delivery was 17 crates of cigarettes with random brands in exchange for 100,000 THB. The second delivery was 15 crates of cigarettes with random brands in exchange for 80,000 THB. Piamai hired Somradee to help her move the cigarettes into a room in exchange for a 300 THB payment.
Ittipol Liapyai from the Excise Department stated that after he received information from detectives about the smuggled cigarettes he notified the police. Both suspects have been fined 15 times the amount of tax evaded. This comes to a total of about 15 Million THB fine for each of the suspects. The evidence has been moved to the Rayong Excise Department and the suspects are waiting for the prosecution at the Rayong Police Station.
FB Caption: The granddaughter has been fined 15 Million THB for smuggling the cigarettes. She only received 300 THB to help move the cigarettes.
Source: Sanook