Certainty and predictability in policies vital in combating illicit trade

This years' two major seizures of smuggled ethanol have brought to the fore one of the most difficult aspects of the fight against illicit trade. The first was marked by drama: detectives seized a truck believed to have been loaded with 20,000 litres of ethanol; smuggled into Kenya through the Namanga border post.

According media reports, the truck was stopped by traffic police officers at Kitengela, but there was a six-hour stand-off as the police insisted that the vehicle could not be allowed to leave the roadblock.