The black market price of the Taiwanese cypress is NT$230,000
Taiwan News
Date: 2017/03/26
By: Matthew Lubin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Police on Saturday caught a man illegally logging in Alishan
Chiayi County police arrested a man for illegal logging in Alishan (photo courtesy Chiayi County Police)
National Scenic Area while he thought the police would be too busy controlling traffic with the influx of visitors arriving to see the cherry blossoms.
The 37-year-old man surnamed Chen, who is a resident of Alishan, was spotted attempting to smuggle 181 kg of Taiwan cypress (台灣扁柏, Chamaecyparis taiwanensis) out of the forest, in violation of the Forestry Act. The black market value of that amount of Taiwan cypress is about NT$230,000 (US$7,580), UDN reported.
Earlier in the week police began an investigation as they discovered other trees had been illegal cut down. They managed to trace a trail to Chen and set up a checkpoint along the road to catch him as he smuggled another cypress. [FULL STORY]
