A court has ordered the forfeiture of a seven-ton Mitsubishi Fuso truck and 8,000 litres of smuggled ethanol valued at Ksh5 million in taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority after a tax-evasion case involving cross-border smuggling of goods from Tanzania. The ruling was delivered by Taveta Principal Magistrate Eugene Kadima, who found that the vehicle was under instructions to convey uncustomed goods, which was in violation of the East African Community Customs Management Act of 2004. The two individuals at the centre of the case are a truck driver and a Tanzanian national, believed to have been a hitchhiker.
On November 11, 2022, the duo was intercepted at around 2:00am as they crossed into the Kenyan border at the Kibanda Hasara border post.
The two attempted to smuggle ethanol concealed beneath a cargo of onions and rice. A photo of ethanol impounded by police in Tigoni on April 22, 2023.
Photo National Police Service Their arrest came after an intelligence-led ambush by Kenyan authorities, who took the truck to Taveta One Stop Border Police Station.
