The Upper East Regional Command of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA, has impounded a Yutong Bus with registration number GN-2526-10 loaded with uncustomed goods smuggled from Togo.
The goods were loaded in Widana in the Pusiga District and impounded by officials of the Customs Preventive Operation Unit on the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Widana road.
The uncustomed goods include car batteries, Motor bike and Motor tricycle spare parts, wax prints, bags of rice, drugs among others.
Ghana’s porous borders make it easy for smugglers to enter with uncustomed goods and depart the country through unapproved routes.
Due to the weak border control, bribery and corruption at the entry points have also worsened with the entry of contraband goods, especially arms and drugs.
The Assistant Commissioner at the GRA of the Customs Division in the Upper East Region, Baffour Yaw Anane Asare, who is also the Sector Commander, said the porous nature of the country’s borders is making it difficult for them to meet their target of eighteen million Ghana cedis.
The Ghana Immigration Service and the Customs Division has over the years been battling with smugglers and criminals entering the country from Togo and Burkina Faso.
The leadership of the GRA of the Customs Division has therefore called for the construction of a considerable length of fence fitted with Close Circuit Television, CCTV, cameras and other devices to enhance border management.
