Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers on Tuesday seized three high-end vehicles worth Sh40 million which had been concealed as household goods at the Port of Mombasa.
The vehicles, which included two Range Rovers and a Mercedes Benz, were seized following an intensified crackdown on the importation of contraband goods.
The container had been declared as containing personal and household effects but during verification at the container Freight Station (CFS) it was found to have actually been loaded with the vehicles.
“On July 30, 2019, Customs Enforcement Southern Region received scanner alert pointing towards mis-declaration of a 40-foot container,” KRA said in a statement.
“The container which had been declared to contain personal and household effects were inspected non-intrusively using the Customs X ray scanner in Mombasa. The scanner image revealed that the contents of the container were three high-end motor vehicles, inconsistent with the declaration.”
The manifest showed the consignor for the cargo is in United Kingdom, while the consignee is in Kampala, Uganda.
KRA officers believe the vehicles were stolen from the United Kingdom.
“Kenya Revenue Authority is working in partnership with the local and international investigation and enforcement agents including the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Kenyan and International Police (Interpol) to get to the root of the syndicate,” KRA further said.
This is not the first time containers declared to be containing household goods have turned out to be carrying high end vehicles.
In June 2019, KRA intercepted two high-end motor vehicles at the Port of Mombasa suspected to have been stolen from the United Kingdom.
According to import documents, the Range Rover Sport cars, which were subject of an international motor vehicle crime and smuggling investigation, were on transit to Uganda.
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