In a follow up to our story earlier this week about customs confiscating 180 cartons of cigarettes which were undeclared: Chief of Customs Moetului Sipili Fuiava says for now they are concentrating on getting the boat owners to pay the excise tax for the cigarettes
The duty for one carton of cigarettes is $60 so the total tax for the 180 cartons would be $10,800.
Moetului says the cigarettes which are mostly Asian brands were found on two longliners.
At this stage he says they are working on getting the due excise taxes from the boat owners and decide other fines later.
Local law, provides a fine of up to $1,000 per cigarette if an importer fails to pay the excise tax.
