The seizure was made between Garoua and Ngaoundéré on the night of August 27 to 28, 2022 as part of Operation Stop Illicit Trade
On the night of August 27 to 28, 2022, elements of Cameroonian customs, in particular those of Operation Halcomi, seized a shipment of 1,640 contraband mobile phones on the Garoua-Ngaoundéré road, in the north of the country. Camerounactuonline.com learned this from internal sources at the General Directorate of Customs (DGD). According to these sources, the smugglers used documents suggesting that the convoy had a stock of fresh dates and kola nuts. They took it badly. The deception did not flower for long.
With this operation, Cameroonian customs is increasingly making its mark in the fight against smuggling in the country. However, opposite, the enemy almost never sleeps. Indeed, and only with regard to the importation of telephones, if everything were done in compliance with the legislation in this area, Cameroon would have collected 13 billion FCFA for the 4 million mobile phones that enter the country each year. instead of the billion FCFA which goes into the coffers of the State because of smuggling.
Worrying statistics prompting the Cameroonian government to set up a digital collection system for customs duties on mobile phones and tablets from October 15, 2020. According to sources at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (Minpostel), one of the parties to the agreement signed with the company Arintech on this subject, “this system requires mobile operators to connect to a digital platform designed by this company, to allow customs fees to be collected on the terminals, by deducting them from the credit communication from the owner”.
However, the mobile telephone operators had expressed reservations about “the limited technical characteristics of the platform, the management of personal data, the legality of the means of payment, the projected loss of turnover due to the automatic disconnection of customers who are reluctant to pay customs duties for their terminal”. In addition, the government had to backtrack in the face of a muted anger that was rising among the population against this project aimed practically at transferring the payment of customs duties on terminals to users. Meanwhile, cell phone smuggling continues to take it easy in Cameroon.