The National Security personnel in Accra has impounded a truckload of cooking oil branded “Aicha Vegetable Oil” at Nima.
The report indicates that over six hundred and thirty vegetable cooking oils were smuggled from Togo into the country to avoid paying duty at the borders.
The trader of the smuggled cooking oil, Madam Belinda Mensah, also referred to as Hajia at Nima Market, has been detained and is assisting National Security with their investigation. The National Security Office in Accra has also seized the loaded truck registered under the licence plate AC 8143-23.
The Chief Executive Office of the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA), Hon. William Agyapong Quaittoo, told the Republic Press that smugglers of cooking oil through the borders invade taxes and sell oil at a price that threatens the survival of the local producers of the oil.
According to him, the local oil producers have constantly battled with unfair competition, incurring more losses.
Hon. Quaittoo indicated that the government has imposed restrictions on the import of cooking oil through the borders, which took effect on October 31, 2023.
He, however, indicated that the Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA), together with the National Security Agency, have devised means to track and arrest these smugglers.
