9 July 2004 - Officials of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) have conducted swoops in several parts of the country and seized cigarettes illegally imported into the country.The areas targetted included Ho and Hohoe in the Volta Region, Techiman, Kintampo, Atebubu, Chiraa and Wenchi, all in the Brong Ahafo
Region.

According to a CEPS official, the move to arrest point-of-sale traders in smuggled cigarettes had become necessary because of the huge revenue lost to the state.
He said for example, the illegal importation into the country of just two brands of cigarettes — Bond Menthol and Bond Full Flavour — caused the nation an average of ¢30 billion in Excise Duty and VAT revenue annually.

Speaking in an interview the official said illegal importations had become big-time business, which was seriously depriving the nation of huge amounts of money in excise duty evasions.He said apart from lost revenue, these illegal importations affected local industry adversely and put the safety of consumers at risk, since most of such goods were of questionable quality and of doubtful origins.

On smuggled cigarettes, he said the phenomenon was alarming, adding that the deliberate price reductions by the agents of Philip Morris, manufacturers of the Bond brands in neighbouring countries, had made the illegal importation of these products very lucrative and therefore attractive to the perpetrators.

It also raises suspicion about the quality of these products, since no manufacturer will be ready to cut the prices of a good product at the expense of operational costs.He assured that the war against smugglers would continue unabated and the CEPS and other security agencies would do everything to fight the canker.