Customs to confiscate illegal booze

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The Customs Department plans to confiscate alcohol and tobacco that does not bear a required stamp.

The new measure was announced by Comptroller of Customs, Raju Boddu this week and will reportedly come into effect later this year.

Customs reportedly loses up to 10 million dollars annually from illegally imported alcohol and tobacco.

Boddu told state media “we don’t have any clue what is going on”, admitting Customs do not have the capacity to effectively monitor the country’s borders for illegal importers.

“We don’t have boats to patrol the boats”, he lamented.

The customs department will instead turn it’s focus on alcohol and tobacco on the shelves.

“So those are the duty paid stamps already…this is not new tax… so that we can pinpoint when our officers go and check the business places; whatever doesn’t bear the stamp is confiscated; that is smuggled”, Boddu explained.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Are he saying that these illegal alcohol and tobacco came into the country through another entry port other than the Airport, Dock Yard, and St. John’s Port Authority? Government to take a seriousness in going through each containers and pallets for business places cargoes.

  2. Now this task from the get go has FAILURE written in to the procedure.

    1 It is labour intensive.

    2 it’s a good thing Antigua and BARBUDA is 170 sq ml.

    3 All the Joints and Rum shops at every street corner some has two and three.

    If there is some miracle and the task is achieved even 30% PLEASE GIVE YOUR METHODOLOGY TO THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH SO THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY MONITOR THE HAND FULL OF ORIENTAl and other restaurants in the country.

  3. Nonsence I think. Does the illegal importation of alcohol and tobacco outweigh the cost of implementing this program and the inconvenience that it would create? Normally importer will bring a container with boxes of these items, are they going open all these boxes and cartoons of cigarette and stamp them individual and if so, will will be the cost impact on the government to enforce this?

    The importation of weed is still illegal and customs has not been able to control it, maybe we should try putting a stamp on the illegal weed as well, wow.

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