Taipei Vice
It appears that the gumshoes in Taiwan have been getting out and beating the bricks a bit. And to show off their efficiency they called a two day "summit". In this article (read press release) the good boys in blue roped in 11.35 million packs of smokes and just over 250,000 liters of firewater in the first six months of the year. It sounds like a good score and admittedly might keep me happy for a few weeks but alas amounts to basically nothing.
With a population of 22.6 million this breaks down to about half a pack of cigarettes per person. And as far as the booze goes, the p.p.a is laughable. I have and continue to work very closely with Asians from all over the map but specifically China, Malaysia, and Singapore. At the risk making a generalization, these people have never met a cigarette they didn't like. They make the French look like amateurs. And as far as drinking is concerned, they don't play around. Break out a bottle of Remy Martin and kiss your Marlboro's goodbye. (Although make sure you have some Sprite on hand. For reasons inexplicable, they love to mix really expensive cognac with really crappy American soft drinks.)
They also have a saying which roughly translates into "Cigarettes and Alcohol have no home". The idea is that if I have cigarettes, then you have cigarettes. If you have beer, we have beer. Now, it's the cops that have both.
The last two paragraphs are awesome:
Illegally-made Domestic rice wine? It can't be any worse than the stuff that's made above board. Liquor from China? I have never heard of a liquor from China. Famous foreign brands of wine? Give one to the smugglers. The guy that snuck in the container of Acme red is probably kicking himself in the ass right now. Why won't this sell??
We now return to our originally scheduled program -- America's War on Drugs
With a population of 22.6 million this breaks down to about half a pack of cigarettes per person. And as far as the booze goes, the p.p.a is laughable. I have and continue to work very closely with Asians from all over the map but specifically China, Malaysia, and Singapore. At the risk making a generalization, these people have never met a cigarette they didn't like. They make the French look like amateurs. And as far as drinking is concerned, they don't play around. Break out a bottle of Remy Martin and kiss your Marlboro's goodbye. (Although make sure you have some Sprite on hand. For reasons inexplicable, they love to mix really expensive cognac with really crappy American soft drinks.)
They also have a saying which roughly translates into "Cigarettes and Alcohol have no home". The idea is that if I have cigarettes, then you have cigarettes. If you have beer, we have beer. Now, it's the cops that have both.
The last two paragraphs are awesome:
Illegally-made domestic rice wine, smuggled liquor from mainland China, and bootlegged wine of famous foreign brands made up the bulk of the alcohol seized, while cigarettes of top foreign brands accounted for the bulk of the seized contraband tobacco, the officials explained.
Illegally-made Domestic rice wine? It can't be any worse than the stuff that's made above board. Liquor from China? I have never heard of a liquor from China. Famous foreign brands of wine? Give one to the smugglers. The guy that snuck in the container of Acme red is probably kicking himself in the ass right now. Why won't this sell??
To effectively curb bootlegged wine and cigarettes, relevant government agencies are considering further stepping up their crackdowns and assisting local farmers in setting up licensed factories.Just read that one more time. I am no economist, but the first part of the plan is simply stupid. And the plan B is genius. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
We now return to our originally scheduled program -- America's War on Drugs
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