Customs Receives Impounded Goods

Mr. Faisal Disu handing over to Emmanuel Lawson of CEPS

THE GHANA Immigration Service at the Paga Border has officially handed over some impounded goods and vehicles to the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service division of the Ghana Revenue Authority at the border.

The items being 103 jerry-cans of fuel products and 62 cartons of assorted medicine, were being smuggled to neighbouring Burkina-Faso in a Mercedes Benz Van with registration number 11 HG 1705 BF, when a member of the Border Patrol Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service intercepted them on March 5, 2013.

The immigration Service also handed over an Opel Astra with registration 11 KK 1220 BF and Opel Vectra with number 11 JJ 6191 BF as well as an unregistered Haojin motorbike, all of which were being used to smuggle assorted items from Ghana to Burkina-Faso through unapproved routes.

The Officer In-Charge of the Paga Border post, serving as the Acting Upper East Regional Commander of the Service, Faisal Disu, noted that smuggling across the various borders of the country was a major challenge to National Security, and the Paga border and Misiga Border in the Bawku Municipality were no exception.

“In the Paga catchment area, smuggling of fuel products, fertilizer, pharmaceutical products, foreign currency and human beings are endemic. However smuggling of fuel products has been on the increase, owing mainly to the fact that products are easily available at the numerous filling stations in the Paga Township and the fact that Burkina-Faso has a relatively higher fuel price,” the Immigration Commander explained.

He confessed that there are so many unapproved routes around the Paga Border, which he said, have facilitated the movement of smugglers and their cargo in and out of the country over the years.
“The rate of smuggling through the numerous unapproved routes is so high that it increases the quantity of fuel brought to the region by the various Fuelling Filling Stations. It therefore comes as no surprise when statistics on national petroleum consumption puts the Upper East Region second to the Greater Accra region,” he noted.

According to the Acting Regional Immigration Boss, despite the huge task of trying to curb the smuggling of state subsided petroleum products, the Border Patrol Unit of the Service in Paga is inadequately resourced with logistics to enable them to chase and stop smugglers, most of whom are armed with sophisticated weapons and use faster means of transport for their operations.

The Border Patrol Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service was introduced in the year 2006 to counter the problem of smuggling and other cross border crimes. It was mandated to patrol the frontiers of the country, to deter people from travelling and perpetrating crime through the many unapproved routes along the country’s borders.

Over the years, the Paga branch of the Border Patrol Unit, has impounded a large quantity of goods being smuggled upon tip-off by members of the community and yet the unit there is heavily constrained in its effort at patrolling the border.

Currently the unit has only one motorbike to carry out its operation, since its operation vehicle has broken down.

The Acting Regional Immigration Boss called for adequate logistics to empower the Border Patrol Unit to work effectively to reduce the rate of smuggling of fuel and other subsidized products through the Paga Border.

The Senior Collector from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Emmanuel Lawson, who received the items, promised that they would be auctioned and the money would be paid into a Consolidated Fund.

He commended the Border Patrol Unit and the informants for their various roles at ensuring that the smugglers did not deny the country of revenue.