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12 June, 2007
Authorities at the Nazareth branch of the Ethiopian Customs Authority intercepted a truck full of contraband merchandise estimated to be worth 300,000 Br two weeks ago. A truck loaded with hundreds of electronic gadgets and second hand clothes was forced to stop by Customs police officers on June 1, 2007, in Gedamaitu Wereda, Afar Regional State, 311Km east of Addis Abeba.
The truck, owned by the state transport firm, COMET, was dispatched to Djibouti to bring fertilizer, according to Tadelle S. Michael, general manager of the company. It was driven by one of its employees, Abebe Yayah.
Customs police officers claim that they found 78 television sets, 192 DVDs, 78 VCDs, 192 Yashika cameras as well as 3,741Kg of second-hand clothes. Close to 140 packets of Shisha tobacco and 150 packets of Ronson cigarettes was also found in the truck.
Following a massive crackdown on contraband routes in the eastern parts of the country, where authorities estimate five billion Birr worth of industrial goods are smuggled into the country, incidents such as this are signals that the once devastated contraband business is picking up. It only changed its routes, according to a member of a national committee established in 2003 to fight contraband across the country. It has members representing all the regional states, the ministries of Revenue and Defence as well as from the Federal Police Commission.
The main routes of contraband to Ethiopia are identified by this committee as those coming from ports in Djibouti and Somalia.
Authorities say the truck intercepted two weeks ago did not stock the goods from these places all at once. Rather they were smuggled in small quantities throughout a few months time and kept in Gedamaitu, according to Capitan Aregawi Berehie, head of Nazareth Customs branch enforcement department. Under his watch are routes such as Awash, Shashemenie, and Bale customs checkpoints.
Although Captain Aregawi declined to confirm, sources disclosed to Fortune the truck was intercepted while on the highway, following tips from informants. The Authority has a policy of rewarding informers, sharing 35pc of the goods found smuggled into the country.
An unidentified woman had agreed to pay him 8,000 Br for his service to transport goods while he had a stop overnight in the town of Awash Arba, according to a statement Abebe made to the police.
“She did not tell me what was inside the packages,” he told police. “Neither did I ask. I only saw the service I would be paid for.”
He was released from jail after a court in Awash Zone granted him bail on June 7, six days after he was first arrested. The truck he was driving was also released in two days, after COMET’s management wrote to the Customs Authority, promising to take administrative measures against the suspect.
“We have formed a committee that would review the case and suggest the appropriate administrative measures,” Tadelle told Fortune. “It could involve dismissal.”
Abebe, who was not available for comment, has been serving the company for about 20 years, according to his records with COMET.
By ISSAYAS MEKURIA - FORTUNE STAFF WRITER