Two people are currently in the custody of the Aflao police for evading customs duty to the tune of GH¢288,000.
The accused persons, Alhaji Amadu Tijani and Edoh Kouami Chaold, a Togolese, were expected to transport light fuel oil under transit trade from Aflao to Mali.
However, the consignment, which was to reach Mali within the first week of January, 2019, has still not got to the destination while the Aflao customs collection could not trace the whereabouts of the consignment.
Transit trade
Under the transit trade, the owner was exempted from paying duty in Ghana since the product was not to be consumed in the country.
Although investigations are ongoing to locate the consignment, the two were suspected to have sold the oil in Ghana and did not transport it to Mali and, therefore, the application for transit was a ploy to evade duty.
Tijani, the owner of the consignment and Chaold, an accomplice, were put before an Aflao circuit court on a charge of evading customs duty and were remanded to reappear on February 21.
Consignment not delivered
Narrating the matter to the Daily Graphic, the Aflao Sector commander, Sheila Vigbedor, stated that on December 24, 2018, a freight forwarding agency at Aflao put in a declaration to clear one bulk of light fuel oil loaded onto four tanker tracks, with the registration numbers AR 6366 MD, RO- 837MD, AR-6363 MD, and Q-8768MD, in transit to the Mali.
The said consignment was to exit the country through Paga within a stipulated time of seven days.
As a result of that, a wireless message was sent to the Paga Customs office to monitor the arrival of the consignment.
However, on January 16, 2019, the Paga Customs informed Aflao that the consignment had not arrived.
The sector commander said the clearing agent responsible for the consignment, Milky Company Limited, was contacted to assist Customs to arrest the suspects.
Through their collaboration, the two accused persons were arrested on February 1 and February 2, respectively.
During interrogation, Chaold reportedly indicated that he handed over the document of the consignment to Amadu.
The sector commander explained that per section 95 (sub-section 2a) of the Customs Act 891, 2015, a person who declares goods and places the goods under transit procedure was responsible for the presentation of the goods intact at the customs office destination within the prescribed time period.
As a result of that the two were liable for the offence of evasion of duty.
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