JoyNews investigations have uncovered how customs officials take bribes to allow traders to transport smuggled goods from neighbouring countries to the country's local markets.

These officials take bribes ranging from ¢20 to ¢200 to allow these traders who have evaded paying taxes on their goods to get off the hook.

 In our latest hotline documentary ‘Porous Borders’, investigative journalist Kwetey Nartey reveals how the country’s inland borders are becoming a hotbed for the transit of smuggled goods.

This comes on the heels of reports that every year, a significant volume of products ranging from fake hair products, flavoured water, cement, refined petroleum and palm oil from Togo end up on the country’s domestic markets.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), over $400 million worth of these products were imported from Togo between 2017 and 2021.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that what is smuggled through the country’s porous borders to the local markets surpasses what has been documented by the OECD.

This phenomenon has become one of the major concerns of the newly appointed Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam.

He did not mince words over its impact on revenue generated by the state when he met customs officials on his first working engagement with them at the Tema port.

“Smuggling is on the rise, particularly on the Eastern corridor of our country.”

But, he felt short of addressing one of the enablers of smuggling. The porous borders.

This is an undercover investigation to infiltrate the ranks of the smugglers transporting many cartons and gallons of oil, assorted drinks, and bags of rice from Togo to Aflao Cote d’ Ivoire to Elubo, and the Northern regions and Oti regions.

In this story, customs officials who take bribes to allow these products into the country are exposed.

This daring broad-day attempt to circumvent the approved border posts manned by customs officials has a reason.

The unscrupulous business operators and smugglers want to escape paying the right duties and penalties on their goods.

Delali, a trader in his late thirties who runs a retail outlet in Aflao, indicated that many of the goods he sells in his store were illegally brought from Togo.

“ They are without the tax stamps embossed on the goods as directed by the Ghana Revenue Authority.”

 Despite admitting falling foul of the law, he has a justification behind this business move. 

“Every businessman is in this trade to make a profit,” he explains.

The practice of bringing goods from Togo through unapproved routes to the local markets isn’t easy.

Aside from using winding routes, it comes with its own costs and risks. But, for these smugglers and traders, the business rewards cannot be compared to the cumbersome process they have to go through when using the approved routes.

As a result of this, Delali takes the risks of carting these unstamped goods from Togo to Aflao and manages to manoeuvre his way around customs officials stationed at the checkpoints.

The success of this operation is largely dependent on middlemen who operate tricycles that operate on these routes.

The fear of having his goods seized and the need to escape the laborious paperwork at the approved border posts are the reasons why he continues to rely on smugglers to protect his business interests.

Favour, a man who operates a popular pub in Kadjebi in the Oti region, also loads of the consignment he sells are bought from Togo.

 He says one needs only GHc100 cedis to pay off customs officials who would want to confiscate the contraband goods.

Knowing this, the team is advised to change a few notes of CFA Francs for the purchase of products across the border.

 Even before we pass through one of the beats into Togo, some immigration officials and men wearing civilian clothes from the Togo side are asking us to pay cash.

Investigative journalist Kwetey Nartey indicated that as he was heading into one of Togo’s busy business districts, he found out that one can buy anything from this business hub.

From clothes, drinks, T-rolls, and fabrics to anything you can think of in shades and colours.

 But, for purposes of this investigative assignment, he settled on purchasing assorted and canned drinks without the tax stamps.

 These are goods that are already manufactured in Ghana. But, as I would soon learn, it is cheaper to buy them here.

At the time of investigation, a carton of malt sold at ¢92 in Togo while in Ghana it was retailed for ¢160. A carton of coke went for 101 cedis in Togo and sold for 150 cedis in Ghana. While Vody sold at 169 cedis in Togo, in Ghana it was priced at 270 cedis per box.

Any of these goods he bought should ordinarily be confiscated by customs officials or he should have been made to pay the right taxes on them, but, if this is not done, the profit margins of these traders can be anyone’s guess.

But, having driven through several checkpoints with these goods without tax stamps from Aflao through to Dabala to Sogakope, it wasn’t flagged.

The movement through these checkpoints was smooth until a customs official in her mid-thirties flagged us to stop at the Sogakope checkpoint.

The investigative team assumed this customs official who stopped the team to inspect these goods would get us to pay taxes on the assorted drinks, but we were in for a shocker.

She demanded the team pay a bribe of ¢400, she allowed us to pay ¢200 after some minutes of negotiations.

This was no different at Ghana’s border town in the Western region, Elubo.

Many bags of rice are brought through the border post and are allowed to pass without paying the right taxes.

Some of these traders who bring rice from the Ivory Coast have become familiar with customs officials demanding bribes from them and allowing them to go with their booty.

Despite its toll on their profits, they prefer dealing in such transactions to paying the right duties.

They claim they are not issued with invoices or receipts to cover these payments they make to unscrupulous customs officials.

Drivers who cart these goods to the marketing centres are not spared when transporting these bags of rice.

According to this driver who gave his name as Kweku, the officials demanded nothing less than ¢350 to allow them to transport smuggled bags of rice to Takoradi or Tarkwa.

The investigative team succeeded in meeting one of the smuggling kingpins in Elubo who identified himself as Error.

 For every box of rice he brings from Ivory Coast to Ghana, he charges GHc20 cedis. It is this amount, he pays off to customs officials he works with to facilitate his business.

If he can transport 500 bags of rice to Elubo he would earn GHc10,000 cedis.

The investigative team decided to test these claims made by the traders and commercial drivers.

The team bought several boxes of rice from neighbouring Ivory Coast. At the Elubo border post, this Customs official who was identified as Cudjoe allowed our boxes of rice bought from Ivory Coast into Ghana.

The investigative team did not pay the statutory taxes.

When the team got to the customs checkpoint at Samir, our vehicle was inspected by two customs officials.

 They asked the reporter to follow them to their office. They demanded I pay a bribe of GHc20 cedis and left me to go with the boxes of rice.

But cartons of drinks and bags of rice are not the only products that are illegally brought into the country without paying the approved fees.

At Kadjebi in the Oti region, I feigned interest in wanting to purchase a vehicle from Togo.

This middle-aged man whom we decide to call Efo Koffi walks us through the modus operandi of bringing cars into the country without paying the right taxes.

He claims to have collaborators within the security agencies who aid him in carrying out this work.

When there is a surge in the prices of fuel at the pumps, a new trade emerges in most border communities.

The smuggling of fuel into Ghana. Imoro Awudu is a tabletop fuel operator he knows all about this business.

It is becoming an uphill task to decisively deal with smuggling at the country’s porous borders.

But, if the actors in this menace are held in check, the loopholes in the revenue basket can be sealed.

This investigation received support from the Ghana Integrity Initiative and Global Financial Integrity.