Customs officials destroy contraband goods worth millions at Mombasa port

Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Ports Authority officials on Wednesday destroyed contraband goods worth millions of shillings at the port of Mombasa.

More than 17,600 bags of sugar, each weighing 50kg and valued at Sh56 million, 48 containers of condemned rice and 64 containers of ethanol valued at Sh288 million were disposed of in a joint effort by KRA and KPA.

“The commodities shall be destroyed through dumping into the Indian Ocean using a barge. The contents were emptied out of the bags into a hold, the barge will sail off and thereafter open its hold to allow the contents to flow out into the ocean,” KRA commissioner in charge of customs and border control Julius Musyoki told journalists before the operation.

The KRA, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) impounded the containers of contraband goods stored in freight stations in Mombasa.

On January 15, they impounded 39 containers of contraband Brazilian sugar declared as hardware material, whole lentils, photocopiers, office furniture, new shoes and dried grapes and stored stored at the Autoport, Focus and MCT freight stations in Mombasa after they were intercepted, while those containing ethanol were said to be within the port.

Mr Musyoki said the rice consignment consisted of cargo initially destined for Uganda but the owner failed to claim it.

UNFIT FOR CONSUMPTION

He added that the goods were condemned by the Kenya Bureau of Standards as unfit for consumption.

“Unlike the sugar, the rice was not [the] subject of seizure as illicit cargo and hence no specific action has been preferred against the CFS [container freight station] facility where it was stored,” he said.

The ethanol was destroyed by diluting the concentration in ocean water in a sewer before spilling it into the open sea in a controlled manner.

“The destruction is being undertaken by use of [an] ocean-going refuelling tanker that will empty the contents in a controlled manner into the water. Using this method we aim to ensure that the concentration of ethanol in the water is kept to a minimum,” Mr Musyoki said before the ethanol was dumped.

The official confirmed that the KRA is determined to continue the war against illicit trade and to ensure that an appropriate impact is created through maximum enforcement of the law, such as closing down CFSs or other custom-bonded facilities that abet illicit trade and prosecuting their proprietors and management.