Finance Bursts Smuggling Ring
The Inquirer
Monrovia, Liberia
Distributed by
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
The joint anti smuggling team of the Bureau of Customs at the Finance Ministry yesterday uncovered a major smuggling ring to defraud government in taxes at the Freeport of Monrovia.
A Finance Ministry release said the scam was uncovered when the Custom anti smuggling security network received a credible tip off that a Liberian businessman and Diamond Appraiser, Mr.Moses Sygbeyan mysteriously smuggled a container from the Freeport of Monrovia without going through the normal customs formalities.
The huge cargo container, marked “INKU-# 267924” mounted on a big long-trailer, BT- 0905 containing an assortment of goods and vehicles, was arrested in Sinkor Airfield when the consignee attempted to unload its content secretly to evade government taxes.
The release said the Anti Smuggling team of the Bureau of Customs was successful in identifying a number of individuals linked to the smuggling syndicate at the Freeport intended to defraud the Liberian government in taxes.
Meanwhile, Finance Ministry authorities have immediately ordered the immediate return of the container and its contents back to the Freeport of Monrovia pending a full scale security investigation in the matter to determine the extent to which such a smuggling ring undermines government’s revenue collection at the port.