Customs seize Contrabands worth 3.6bln Birr in three months

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian customs authority said more than 3.6 Billion Birr worth of contraband was seized during the first quarter of the 2023/24 fiscal year.

This was disclosed by the Ethiopian Customs Commission (ECC) in a statement issued on Thursday

According to the statement, the multiple operations to clump down illegal cross-border trade helped to intercept contraband items at various customs checkpoints.

Most of them were captured in the list of seized items that were intercepted while they were being smuggled into Ethiopia.

The commission put their combined value of the list of contrabands captured crossing into the country at 2.6 Billion Birr. Illicit narcotic substances, electronics, and clothes topped the list and were respectively valued at 392 million Birr, 365 million Birr and 321 million Birr.

In the first quarter, customs officers also prevented more than one billion Birr worth of products from illegally leaving the country.

Narcotic substances like Khat dominated the list as customs authorities put their value at 502 million Birr.

Agricultural products come second. More than 490 million Birr worth of agricultural products that were en route to foreign destinations were captured.

The seizures during the three-month period also led to the arrest of 258 suspected smugglers.

The customs commission attributed the improved first quarter performance to the coordinated efforts of its customs and security officers and thanked the public for their increased contribution to the efforts against illegal trade.

Trade facilitation and enforcing customs law