Customs officials in the Ashanti Region have intercepted a container loaded with goods after they detected that the owner had failed to pay duty on some items - five motorbikes and a vehicle.

According to the Officer in charge of Preventive at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Alfred Agyemang Badu, the interception of the goods happened at Adiembra, a suburb of the Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

He noted that the case has been referred to the investigative department of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority for further examination.

Alfred Agyemang Badu stated that the owner of the goods will pay the duty on the goods, with an additional 300% penalty, after investigations are concluded.

In an interview with the media, Mr Badu said, “We received intelligence on Friday that there was a container at Adiembra, Kumasi, where goods were being discharged. The suspicion was that duty had not been paid on the goods. So, when I got the information, I informed my commander, who gave me the go-ahead to mobilize men to go to the scene. We quickly did that, and our officers moved to the scene. And lo and behold, they found the container loaded on a truck. We told the people to bring the container to our yard, which they complied with. We asked them to unload the goods, and upon examination, we found unentered vehicles and five motorbikes."

“We quickly informed the sector commander, who gave instructions that the goods be detained pending further investigations. We will hand them over to the investigative department, and they will take it from there,” he stated.

The detention of the goods comes days after the leadership of the Importers and Exporters Association accused customs officers of harassing their members in the Ashanti Region.



ESA