It is now convincingly clear that the 13,000 vehicles that had illegally entered the country through the nation’s ports and borders did not come out of the blue. Investigations indicate that certain unpatriotic staff of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), many of them at the Headquarters in Accra, could be directly connected to the syndicate that had been clearing cars illegally into the country, thereby causing heavy financial loss to the state. The government has since March last year lost several billions of cedis through the non-payment of duties on hundreds of cars and containers illegally cleared at the Tema Harbour alone. At least two big names at the Vehicle Task Force in Accra (names withheld) have consistently popped up, in series of investigations conducted, as having been actively involved in some of the car deals. The two are currently car dealers, one of whom operates a garage along the Spintex Road in Accra. About a dozen other CEPS officials in the capital and the regions have also constituted themselves into a mafia group that is suspected of aiding and abetting some importers to cheat the nation. Embarking on what they call ‘Operation Kalakuta’, these CEPS officers, upon tip-offs from the general public, arrest suspects without sending them to the headquarters. The booty from such operations, usually huge sums of monies, is then shared with informants, after which the arrested vehicles are released back into the system. “Kalakuta is the best”, one of them carelessly said in a recent conversation over a bottle of beer. In spite of breaking news on similar developments by the paper some four weeks ago,one of the syndicates, which was exposed in the last publication has at now cleared its 43rd vehicle through the same unholy method and with the alleged connivance of some officials. Among the latest cars cleared in the series are a grey Ford Saloon A/C car, green Rover 2.0, and a blue Toyota Corolla, all parked near a popular spot in the nation’s capital. It will be recalled that there was a publication on how some officials have connived with some importers and clearing agents to lift several cars and containers from the Tema Port, despite the alleged computerized measures put in place. Before the publication, investigations conducted at the Post Event desk at CEPS headquarters and GC-Net office at the Long Room, Tema, confirmed fears that the system is not, after all, fool-proof. One Acura Legend Saloon Car alone, which was imported from the United States of America and illegally cleared, cost the government of Ghana a total of ¢113,292,740 (GH¢11,329.27)in payable duty and penalties. This was after one Mabel Thompson, a CEPS examiner, claimed she had examined and endorsed it for clearance on 26th April, 2006. Giving her green-light directive, Ms. Thompson wrote: “Delivery is allowed, please. Examined 1 Used Acura Legend S/C. Found Particulars correct as entered”. Four days before this incident, the same CEPS Official, Mabel Thompson, on another form supposedly indicated that the vehicle had been duly received and forwarded. Subsequently, the car was released at the Main Gate after it was finally cross-checked by one Asomani. Officials at the department told the paper that the importer of the car bearing declaration number 42006102876/0 and chassis No. JH4KA4679KC023228 had not paid a dime in duties. The brown car, imported in the name of one Daniel Yaw Owusu Achaw, and which arrived in the country on board MV Monteverde, was supposed to have been assessed by Vincent Ofoe Dwordoe of Tema CEPS. However, when contacted, Frederick Gavor, Collector in charge of the GC-Net clearing system at the Tema Port, explained that, very often, hard copy documents presented at the ports are fake. According to him, some of these documents look so genuine they could fool any officer, and therefore called for the abolition of the use of hard copies in the clearing of goods at the ports. Mr. K. Anyimia, Supervisor at the Compliance Department at Tema, has also distanced himself from the documents, saying the signatures on them have been forged. The alleged fictitious clearing was successfully masterminded by Patriotic Shipping Limited of Tema. Source: Daily Guide