SMUGGLERS INTENSIFY ACTIVITIES AT ENTRY POINTS

(P. 22) NOVEMBER 10, 2007

Story: Kofi Yeboah, Dabala
ACTIVITIES of smugglers at various entry points in the country have intensified as Christmas approaches, thus depriving the nation of billions of cedis in revenue.
In response to that, officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) have vowed to crash the activities of the smugglers.
At Dabala in the South Tongu District in the Volta Region, the smugglers have adopted various modus operandi that CEPS officials are currently finding it extremely difficult to combat, as a result of the inadequate logistics and weak staff strength.
The Dabala CEPS Collection Point is a major entry and exit route for traders on the country’s eastern border, but it has only one Nissan pick-up vehicle and 24 officers, which the officer in-charge, Chief Collector of CEPS Ben Suuri, described as woefully inadequate to combat the increasing spate of smuggling.
What is more disturbing is the fact that the communities around the collection points have joined forces with the smugglers and in some cases, as Mr Suuri alleged, they attacked CEPS officials during operations to arrest the criminals.
Among the goods smuggled through that corridor are wax prints, cigarettes, mobile phones and liquor.
Briefing journalists on a familiarisation tour at Dabala on Thursday, Mr Suuri said in one instance, the smugglers used canoes at night to transport goods across the Volta Lake, outwitting CEPS officials in the process.
He said the smugglers had developed a very effective network and through the use of mobile phones, they quickly informed their accomplices to escape any time CEPS officials moved in to arrest them.
In another instance, Mr Suuri said, the smugglers used high-speed vehicles to escape arrest from CEPS officials whose only Nissan pick-up vehicle had proved highly incapable of chasing them.
Mr Suuri said CEPS officials had, however, managed to uncover a modus operandi of female smugglers, who packed wax prints in their dresses to make them look like pregnant women.
According to him, CEPS officials had been undertaking day and night patrols to check the activities of the smugglers, adding that they had made some arrests in the past, including couriers of narcotic drugs.
Mr Suuri, however, stressed the need for more officers and logistics for the CEPS officials to enable them to discharge their duties effectively.
He also appealed to the community to be allies of CEPS in the fight against smugglers, while advising traders to endeavour to pay duties on their goods in order to raise revenue for national development.
In another development, CEPS officials at Tema have arrested three clearing agents for using fake value assessment documents for the clearance of vehicles, resulting in the loss of about GH¢30,000 (¢300 million) to the state.
Through the use of the fake documents, the suspects were said to have either evaded the payment of duties or, in some instances, paid GH¢6,000 (¢60 million) instead of GH¢15,000 (¢150 million) as duty.
The Assistant Commissioner of CEPS in charge of Tema CEPS Collection Point, Alhaji M. M. Nasirudeen, told the Daily Graphic in Tema that the suspects were being processed for court.
On revenue, he said the collection point had, as of October 2007, collected ¢8 trillion out of its target of ¢11.5 trillion for the year.
At the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) Collection Point, CEPS has collected GH¢76.98 million as of October, this year, out of the annual target of GH¢90.33 million, an increase of 4.07 per cent over the third quarter target of GH¢73.96 million.
The Assistant Commissioner of CEPS in charge of the collection point, Mr John Kenneth Oklu, mentioned total commitment and dedication of staff to duty, high-level motivation and discipline among the staff, effective supervision, the adoption of effective revenue mobilisation strategies to prevent leakage, and proper classification of goods to ensure application of correct duty rates, as some of the factors contributing to the high revenue performance.
He said a total of 23 kilogrammes of marijuana were intercepted among packages being scanned at the British Airways Scanner prior to exportation, adding that the items had been handed over to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
Mr Oklu further stated that 3,236 pieces of mobile phones with a total revenue of ¢736.9 million, as well as counterfeit notes of foreign currencies, cheques and money orders, had been intercepted and handed over to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of CEPS, Mr Emmanuel N. Doku, has called on CEPS officials to remain vigilant and committed to their duties in the wake of increased activities of smugglers around this time.
“We have cautioned all our officers to live up to our core values of integrity, efficiency, customer-focus, commitment and innovation during this challenging period,” he said in a statement read on his behalf by the Deputy Commissioner of CEPS (Human Resource and Administration), Mr Paul Adubofuor, at a press briefing in Accra.
Mr Doku said considering the cordial working environment within the service and the high morale of officers across the country, the set target of ¢16.2 trillion was attainable.
As of October 2007, a total of ¢13.04 trillion has been collected.
“We are not going to relent in our collective determination to exceed this target,” Mr Doku assured the nation.
The Deputy Commissioner of CEPS (Preventive), Mr Africanus Owusu-Ansah, advised CEPS officials to eschew corruption, adding that members of the public should also desist from offering bribes to CEPS officials.
He cautioned that the management would not hesitate to prosecute any CEPS official or member of the public arrested for indulging in acts of corruption.