The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says enhanced intelligence, strengthened inter-agency collaboration and improved technological surveillance have led to the interception of multiple consignments of uncustomed and misclassified goods at Aflao and the Tema Port, preventing a potential revenue loss of GH¢3.6 million.
Acting Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, disclosed that the latest operations uncovered a growing scheme in which importers falsely declare goods as transit cargo bound for Burkina Faso but secretly divert them into local warehouses to evade duties.
“Declared as transit goods using Burkina Faso as their destination, but in reality they were diverted into a warehouse in the Tama End Cliff. Transit goods do not attract payment of duties and that’s why we believe these goods were falsely described as such. Devices that we fix on these tracks to monitor their movement through Ghana to the destinations were tempered with.
“Here again the estimated duty range about 1.7 million Ghana cedis. So, if we take a look at these two operations alone through the vigilant actions of the Customs Division Ghana Revenue Authority in collaboration with national security and the military, we were able to prevent revenue loss of 3.6 million Ghana cedis,” the GRA boss said.
Mr. Sarpong made the remarks after a joint Customs–National Security–Military operation intercepted several trucks suspected of carrying undeclared or undervalued goods. The seized items included large volumes of rice, sugar, tomato paste, beverages, textiles and clothing, many of which were either misclassified or undervalued to reduce duty obligations.
According to officials close to the operation, the advanced electronic tracking devices fixed onto transit trucks played a key role in exposing unusual route deviations and signal tampering. The GRA has recently upgraded these trackers with improved GPS accuracy, tamper-alerts and real-time monitoring dashboards, enabling officers to detect diversions swiftly and dispatch enforcement teams before cargo disappears into the local market.
The commissioner noted that the integration of surveillance technology with physical enforcement capabilities has become the “turning point” in clamping down on transit fraud, under-declaration and smuggling. For a country where import duties contribute significantly to tax revenue, the success of these operations signals a major boost to fiscal stability.
Economists say reducing leakages at Ghana’s borders is essential for strengthening the cedi, improving government liquidity and restoring confidence in tax administration.
The GRA believes that consistent deployment of advanced monitoring tools will not only plug revenue gaps but also discourage the long-standing perception that the port system can be manipulated through loopholes or collusion.
