Officers from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) have seized 65 bags of powder soap that had been imported illegally from Tanzania.
The consignment was seized at Vanga township along the Kenya– Tanzania border.
According to KRA Southern Region, Regional Coordinator Joseph Tonui, the government would have lost Sh96, 354 in customs duty if KRA would have failed to intercept the product before being offered in the local market.
“On Sunday, at around 1200hrs, Customs Officers at Lunga Lunga One-Stop Border Post Border (OSBP) received a tip off that a suspect was offloading unaccustomed Tanzanian products at his house in Vanga area. A multiagency team lead by KRA officials rushed to the site, and successfully intercepted the powder soap in the house and a shop, both owned by the suspect,” Mr Tonui said in a statement sent to reporters.
KRA said the owner of the shop was unable to provide clearance documentation for the powder soap prompting the officers to impound the product and transport the consignment to Lunga Lunga OSBP where it was deposited into the Customs Warehouse for safe custody, awaiting further legal action.
The interception of the goods, weighing 795 kilogrammes, comes just days after the government ordered an anti-smuggling crackdown in the border area of Kwale County.
Last week, a government multi-agency team led by Coast Regional Commissioner John Elungata, held a series of regional security meetings with local leaders and traders at Lunga Lunga, Vanga and Shimoni where it was resolved that all stakeholders would closely collaborate to stamp out contraband trade at the borders.
The regional security meetings were chaired by the Regional Commissioner with membership drawn from KRA, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Immigration Department, Kenya Forest Service (KFS), National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) among other national government agencies.
“KRA will continue to collaborate closely with partner government agencies and the public at the borders to fight against contraband trade which exposes honest investors to unfair competition and causes the government to lose revenue in terms of taxes,” Mr Tonui said.
