A joint operation by the Trade Delegation, Customs and GICAM seized the stock in Douala August 4.

Some 1,000 cartons of D&J and Gold Seal cigarette without tax stamp and bearing controversial health warning were on August 4th, 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, stormed the unkempt warehouse amidst heavy security and loaded three trucks of the illicit goods to the Customs office.

According to officials of the delegation, the company producing the cigarette, based in Soa, Yaounde, is charged with fiscal fraud. “The State loses about FCFA 40 million for every 40 feet container (1,000 cartons of cigarette) of the goods. Given that about 1,000 cartons is transported to Douala weekly, it is a lot of money that should have been entering the public purse,” the delegation leader who preferred sealed lips explained. Going by the delegation’s discussions, the company usually pack unstamped cartons at the depth of transporting trucks and brandish a few stamped cartons of cigarette at the entrance of the truck to deceive officials during control.

The company that is supposed to officially produce in Yaounde and exports to Central African Republic and Chad is not permitted to sell the product in the country. Though ‘for export only’ is the inscription on the cartons, most of the product according to the team, inundates markets in the economic capital. Concerning the health warning, ‘tobacco is dangerous for your health’ which is supposed to be written in Arabic for cigarette going to Chad and in French for those to be exported to CAR, the warning is instead in English and French meaning the cigarette is destined for Cameroon which is not the case.

At operation time, workers of the tobacco producing company claimed it is owned by an influential man in the country. No worker was seen around the warehouse on the second day (yesterday) meant to carry the remaining cartons of cigarette.