A joint operation by the Trade Delegation, Customs and GICAM seized the stock in Douala on August 4, 2015.
Some 1,000 cartons of D&J and Gold Seal cigarette brands without duty stamps and not carrying the right health warnings were on August 4, 2015, seized from a warehouse in Bonaberi, Douala. The operation, carried out by the Regional Delegation of Trade, the Customs department and a Security Service under GICAM, took place at the unkempt warehouse amidst heavy security. Three truckloads of the illicit merchandise were finally transported to the Customs office.
According to officials of the Regional Trade Delegation, the company producing the cigarettes in Soa, Yaounde, is accused of tax evasion. “The State loses about FCFA 40 million for every 40-feet container or 1,000 cartons of cigarettes. About 1,000 cartons are transported to Douala every week, meaning a lot of money that should have been entering the public purse is lost,” the operation leader, who preferred anonymity, explained. According to information gathered at the scene, the company usually packs unstamped cartons of cigarettes right inside transporting trucks and brandishes a few stamped ones on top to deceive officials during checks.
The company, which is supposed to officially produce in Yaounde and export to the Central African Republic and Chad, is not permitted to sell the product in the country. Though ‘For export only’ is the inscription on the seized cartons, most of the product, according to officials, floods markets in the economic capital. Concerning the health warning, ‘Tobacco is dangerous to your health,” which is supposed to be written in Arabic for cigarettes meant for Chad and in French for those to be exported to CAR, the warning is instead in English and French on the seized consignment; meaning the cigarettes were intended for local consumption.
At the time of seizure, workers of the manufacturing tobacco company claimed the consignment belonged to an influential personality in the country. However, no worker was seen around the warehouse Wednesday, August 5, 2015, that was meant to collect the remaining cartons of cigarette.
