Vestiaritai

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The Vestiaritai are the coast guard, financial guard and customs officials of Tagmatium and are considered to be organisationally part of the Imperial Army. They come under the authority of the Ministry for Finance but they remain part of the Imperial Guard. This means that even though they are organised more along the lines of a paramilitary force than a true military one, they are rated as amongst the elite of the Tagmatine Armed Forces. This is not necessarily borne out by the level of military training they recieve, however. Their name comes from their ancient role as guards of the "Basilikon Vestiarion", which meant at that time the Imperial Wardrobe. From there, they took on a fiscal inspection role and this had changed by the 1600s into a customs inspection duty, especially in preventing smuggling along the extensive Tagmatine coastline and river network.

Two Vestiaritai customs cutters in the Raga Sea.

The Vestiaritai maintain a fleet of vehicles, including patrol boats, helicopters, aeroplanes and both road and off-road vehicles. They utilise these to to cover the coastline of Tagmatium and also the land borders of the nation. They are also present at land border crossings, airports, seaports and international rail terminals, where they act in the role of customs officials. In this role, they often act in support of the Foussatores when monitoring cross-border movement, as well as alongside both the National and Provincial Police when investigations call for it.