Eighteen people have been arrested in Nairobi in a crackdown on a ‘cargo dumping’ tax evasion scheme where goods destined to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were diverted to Eastleigh.
Investigations revealed that transit truck drivers alter vehicle registration plates mid-journey within the country and tamper with the electronic seals which enable real-time monitoring.This distorts the truck’s identity to conceal the diversion of the goods and stay off the monitoring teams at the KRA’s Central Command & Control and Rapid Response Units (RRU) radar.According to the KRA, the consignsee in this particular case -Kandama Kasongo Franchoise has over time imported and dumped a total of nine consignments with a tax implication of KSh 22 million.
Investigators had trailed a a forty-foot container full of textiles (fabrics) loaded in Mombasa and declared as transit goods destined to the DRC. At Machakos Junction, investigators said, they watched as the truck driver- Meshack Leo, who is among those arrested-change the truck’s registration and tamper with the Customs electronic seal before proceeding towards Nairobi.
They were also seen erasing the “transit goods” marks on the trailer before making a U- turn in Mai Mahiu. The arrests were made while the goods, worth KSh 3,528,471.42 in taxes, were being offloaded on Monday night in Eastleigh. Among those arrested were the store owners.
The trucks on transit are ‘armed’ with electronic seals which trigger an alarm at the KRA’s Central Command & Control if there’s tampering, diversion from the designated route, or an unusually long stopover. They are supposed to be removed as the transit goods exit the country. They system is meant to ensure to curb tax evasion as goods in transit are taxed differently from goods meant for the Kenyan market.