Officials seize 5,400 undeclared tyres in Eastleigh, Nairobi

Police say a firm based in Eastleigh, Nairobi only declared 1,800 pieces but hid three tyres in each piece. PHOTO | STELLA CHERONO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Police say they are interrogating several individuals in connection with the tax evasion scheme.

  • The tyres, imported by Global Africa Tyres, were declared to have originated from Batais Trading Company in Dubai.

Police in Nairobi have impounded a trailer carrying more than 5,400 undeclared car tyres.

A trader based in Eastleigh had declared 1,800 pieces but hid three smaller tyres in each piece

The trailer was impounded on Tuesday by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, in collaboration with Kenya Revenue Authority and the Anti-Counterfeit Agency and other agencies, as part of the crackdown on counterfeits and contraband.

TAX

Police say they are interrogating several individuals in connection with the tax evasion scheme.

The tyres, imported by Global Africa Tyres, were declared to have originated from Batais Trading Company in Dubai.

Thi has exposed the loopholes in the Kenya Revenue Authority’s Custom Services Department.

Kenya Revenue Authority documents presented the DCI showed that the container, which originated from Batais Trading Company in Dubai, was cleared as non-suspect at 17.14hrs on June 12, 2018.

But after the scanner detected that the tyres in the consignment were abnormally thick and a physical count and inspection ordered, the officer at the port of Mombasa, Mr Stephen Musyoki opened the container.

SEAL

After opening the container, number EITU1512030, he wrote a report indicating that the marks and numbers were "not suspect".

He wrote that the seal was intact before it was before it was broken, and that there were new Petromax tyres of various sizes in the container. He sampled 100 and found them fine.

“Physical verification sighted two tyres inserted into one for some tyres. This addressed the scanner query. However, this did not affect the declared entry supply quantities of 2,240 pieces. The declaration of goods tally with the declaration,” the officer reported.

But a physical count of the tyres at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations found 1,800 pieces, each with three smaller tyres inserted inside, meaning more than 5,000 tyres were not declared.Customs documents showed that the consignment belonged to Global Africa Tyres.

The Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr George Kinoti, said three suspects have been interrogated and released on bond in connection with the case, suspected to be part of a tax evasion scheme. He added that KRA had lost millions of shillings through the scheme.