Cartels diverting DRC goods to EAC nations

 By Moses Mwathi and Edwin Cheserek

A network of counterfeiters and merchants is behind a racket in which goods destined for Democratic Republic of Congo are diverted to East African Community market. Most of the smuggled goods are usually not inspected as they are considered goods on transit to a foreign country.

Eldoret Deputy OCPD Benjamin Osongo (left) of police dog unit inspect a consignment of goods worth Sh17 million seized at Mlango recently. The truck transporting the cargo to Uganda was hijacked and goods stolen diverted for sale in Kenya. [Photo: Peter Ochieng/Standard]

This poses a risk to consumers who get counterfeit and sub-standard goods allowed in the market as the exchequer is denied key revenue.

Mombasa Port, which handles an average of 1,700 containers a day, is a notorious entry point for counterfeit goods. It is at this port that two containers of ballpoint pens bearing the registered trademarks and worth more than Sh50 million were seized by Anti-Counterfeit Agency of Kenya. The pens imported by a Ugandan based trader were destined for Uganda from Shanghai, China.

The Underworld has learnt there is a racket in which smugglers operating from East Africa order fake goods from China and disguise them as destined for DRC. The goods, mostly medical drugs, electronics and branded stationery, are then re-routed to markets in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Big business

The stark reality of this soaring crime appears to have dawned on the East African Community and prompted a raft of stringent measures to stem it, including preparing EAC anti-counterfeit Bill, which is awaiting approval by the legislative assembly.

The EAC custom regulations allow for verification of a container enroute to a foreign country if only suspected to be carrying drugs and ammunitions in accordance to World Trade Organisation rules.

“What we normally do when we suspect a container is loaded with counterfeits is to inform our fellow EAC member who is receiving it to conduct verification at the transnational border point. So far, the arrangement has been successful,” says Njuale Mdendu, the officer in charge of Transit Monitoring Unit at Port of Dar es Salaam.

“We do not liaise with DRC in matters custom and I don’t even have an idea whether they have outlawed the sale of counterfeit goods,” Mdendu adds.

“The importers pretend or lie to customs that their cargo is headed to Congo to escape screening and investigation by relevant agencies within EAC. They then bribe their way into the big EAC market consisting mainly of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

In some cases, truck drivers divert goods worth millions of shillings and later claim they were looted by highway robbers. They also stage-manage accidents and claim the goods were stolen after the accident. The drivers make diversions into feeder roads and offload the cargo in clandestine places along the way.

Rogue police

They have upped their game by enlisting the services of the law enforcers.

“Theft becomes easier and its detection much more difficult when collusion is involved,” said a truck driver who wished not to be named.

It has been revealed that police officers hired to escort the trucks are also part of the theft. In a recent incident, police in Eldoret foiled a theft syndicate on the Kapsabet-Kisumu Road. They impounded a consignment worth Sh17 million that was allegedly stolen while on transit to Kampala, Uganda.

Mr Hersi Salad Matan, the owner of the trailer, said he was informed last Sunday that the vehicle had been carjacked by a gang.

“I received information that my vehicle had been flagged down and ransacked by a gang wearing police jackets,” he said.

Matan says drivers devise such schemes to hoodwink unsuspecting traders. He had hired out his trailer to transport the products from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda when the incident occurred and is now worried his trailer may be impounded for long as investigation continues.

Security agents raided a homestead at Mlango estate in Uasin Gishu where the suspects had hidden the consignment. Uasin Gishu deputy OCPD Benjamin Onsongo said police are looking for the owner of the home where the stolen goods were kept.

He said: “We are optimistic that we are going to unearth crucial information regarding the incident.”

Mr Onsongo said the trailer was confiscated at Awasi along the Kericho-Kisumu road, while its driver was arrested in Salgaa along the Eldoret-Nakuru highway.

The police also impounded and arrested a driver of a lorry that was distributing the stolen goods to various shops and wholesalers in Eldoret town.

He conceded that crime has been going on unabated for many years along the highway. He, however, pointed out that police would not tolerate the situation and said they would contain the criminal activities.

“We have heightened security to ensure that criminals do not take charge of our roads,” he told The Underworld.

The driver of the trailer and his accomplices, he said, would be arraigned in court and jointly charged for colluding to commit the offences.

Need Assistance

He said they were investigating claims that police were colluding with criminals to commit crimes.

“The matter is sensitive and we are not going to leave any stone unturned regarding the issue,” he said.

The incident happened amid rising security concerns along the highway, especially on the Nakuru-Malaba route.

A resident, identified only as Kiprop, says the drivers collude with criminals and commit robbery. He says the gang wear police reflective vests and erect illegal roadblocks, where they have firearms and order truck drivers and their assistants to offload goods.

A truck driver who requested anonymity said police officers rob them and allow them to carry on, warning them not to report the incident.

He says the crime wave has been exacerbated by ineffectiveness, inefficiency and corruption of police, who actually engage in criminal conduct.

Traders and truck owners are now up in arms that they have frequently voiced intense complaints to the police about the racket in vain.