The Customs Commission of Ethiopia has confiscated worth 1.6 billion-birr ($56.3 million) items from contraband traders during the fiscal year ended July 7, 2019.
Out of the total close to 1.3 billion birr ($44.8 million) is captured from incoming contraband goods while the remaining is secured from outgoing smuggled goods, according to the report of Customs Commission of Ethiopia.
The report stated that the goods are captured at 14 custom checkpoints across the country. Addis Ababa Airport customs checkpoint tops by capturing 25 percent of all incoming smuggled goods, according to the report NewBusinessEthiopia.com received from the Commission.
Each of Hawassa, Jigjiga, Mille Customs check points have also captured 12 percent of the total incoming smuggled goods, followed by Moyale and Addis Ababa Akaki customs check points each capturing around 9 percent of contraband incoming goods.
The major items smuggled into the country includes new clothes, electronics, food and drinks, narcotic drugs, cigarettes, medicines, vehicles and spare parts and weapons, among others. In relation to the outgoing contraband goods around 68 percent are captured at Addis Ababa Bole Airport and Jigjiga customs check points. Some of the major items captured leaving the country are foreign currencies of different countries in cash, narcotic drugs, food items, Kahat (stimulant leaf), minerals and fuel as well as livestock.