The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Tuesday led a multi-agent team at the Port of Mombasa to verify 43 containers that were being sneaked out of the country.
The containers which were loaded with hides and skins worth about Sh112 million were intercepted about a week ago for mis-declaration after scanning.
According to the manifest in the customs entries, the containers were declared as mats instead of hides and skins to avert paying taxes.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Tuesday led a multi-agent team at the Port of Mombasa to verify 43 containers that were being sneaked out of the country.
The containers which were loaded with hides and skins worth about Sh112 million were intercepted about a week ago for mis-declaration after scanning.
According to the manifest in the customs entries, the containers were declared as mats instead of hides and skins to avert paying taxes.
The exporters of the hides and skins, believed to be locally sourced, were exporting the containers to the United States and Europe, to circumvent customs regulations, and avoid suspicion that they were involved in illegal exportation.
Investigations by the KRA and enforcement department, established that the cargo which was to be shipped by two vessels, Mv Bomar Fulgent and Mv Cosco Yinkou, were destined to Nigeria instead of the US and Europe as it had been purported in the shipping documents.
Southern region coordinator Joseph Tonui said the government would have lost approximately Sh75 million in revenue should the exporters have managed to sneak the containers out of the port for export.
Mr Tonui said traders had misdeclared the cargo to avoid the payment of high duty associated with exportation of hides and skins. The products attracts 80 percent duty.
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