Mombasa: Kenyan authorities have seized three trucks carrying smuggled sugar and cooking oil from Somalia, arresting eight people in a coastal operation targeting the country’s multibillion-shilling contraband trade, reports Hiiraan Online.
The Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) said on Thursday that a joint security team intercepted the trucks in Malindi and found 676 sacks of sugar hidden inside. The goods, worth nearly Sh10 million ($77,000), had been brought into the country illegally for sale in local markets.
ACA Director General Mbugua Njoroge said the bust highlighted the serious economic and security risks linked to smuggling. He warned that contraband denies the government tax revenue, hurts legitimate businesses, and could fund organized crime or extremist groups.
“This seizure is not only about protecting Kenyans from counterfeit sugar and oil that could be harmful,” Njoroge said. “It is also about defending our economy and national security. Fake sugar damages the domestic sugar industry, hurting thousands of farmers and millions of people who depend on it.”
Kenya loses an estimated Sh153 billion ($1.18 billion) in tax revenue every year to illicit trade, which officials say also costs more than 40,000 jobs. The Malindi raid is part of a wider crackdown on smuggling networks that operate through border areas and coastal entry points.
According to ACA, more than Sh500 million ($3.9 million) worth of contraband has been seized in the past year alone, with over 120 suspects arrested in connection with the illegal trade.
