Palau Quarantine Officer To Serve Jail Time For Illegal Cigarette Smuggling

A quarantine officer from Palau national government is set to serve two years in jail for his involvement in an illegal cigarette smuggling scheme.  On January 16, 2014, Jeff Tewid pled guilty to three counts of bribery and one count of misconduct in public office. According to information from the Attorney General’s Office, Tewid accepted bribes, and demanded bribes from a local hotel to allow a container to bypass the quarantine and customs process.  In addition to his two-year jail sentence, Tewid through the terms of his plea agreement is also ordered to pay $45,000 dollars in fines. Furthermore, he is prohibited from seeking any employment from the Republic of Palau, all 16 states, government departments, agencies or boards for 10 years.  The AG’s office expressed that the plea came as a direct result of a long and thorough investigation by Palau’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).