A Thai passenger flying in from Japan walked through the “nothing to declare” green channel at Chiang Mai International Airport on 19 October with four suitcases of matcha, and customs officers were not fooled.
Inside the bags they found 972 packs of imported green tea powder, in pouches and tins, weighing 100 kilograms in total and valued at more than 500,000 baht. The Customs Department said that is well beyond anything a person could reasonably drink themselves, and that it looked like stock meant for sale. None of it had been declared.
The passenger was arrested on charges of bringing goods into the kingdom without paying duty or going through customs procedures. The charges fall under Sections 242 and 252, read with Sections 166 and 167, of the Customs Act B.E. 2560 (2017).
Source: Customs Department
