Macau-bound Taiwanese man loses undeclared cash

A Taiwanese man, who was supposed to depart for Macau on Friday evening, surrendered the
equivalent of roughly USD28,000 to Taiwan Customs officers.
According to media reports, the man was booked on a TransAsia Airways flight to Macau but canceled his trip when the Custom officers at the airport’s Terminal 1 seized most of his cash.
The Aviation Police Bureau (APB) said that the man was carrying HKD300,000 in his coat pocket when the customs officers at Taoyuan International Airport confiscated HK$218,000 (US$27,948), in accordance with Taiwanese law.
The Customs declaration regulation requires passengers and transportation service personnel traveling in and out of the country to declare foreign currency valued at more than US$10,000, or cash in Renminbi amounting to 20,000RMB or more.
The accused said that he was very upset by the incident and was not aware of the Customs declaration law. He added that he planned to go shopping in Macau and Hong Kong but the customs left him with the equivalent of US$10,000 after seizing his money.
A similar case occurred last month when Taiwan’s Customs officers confiscated 6.6 million Japanese yen from a Taiwanese national traveling with 9 million Japanese Yen. He lost about two-thirds of his cash after failing to declare the amount to Customs.
The APB reminds travelers going in and out of Taiwan to observe the regulations to avoid cash being confiscated.