The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has intercepted goods worth about GH₵3.6 million in attempted tax evasion schemes at two major entry points, following joint anti-smuggling operations conducted with National Security and the Ghana Armed Forces.
Addressing the press on Tuesday, 25th November, 2025, the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong indicated that the first operation—carried out on 22 November 2025—uncovered four trucks loaded with diverted goods concealed in a warehouse within the Tema enclave.
The vehicles – carrying more than 9,000 jerry cans of cooking oil, which had been falsely declared as transit goods en route to Burkina Faso.
“Transit goods do not attract duties, and these items were deliberately misclassified to evade taxes. Also, the tracking devices installed on the trucks had been tampered with—clear evidence of a planned diversion into the domestic market,” he said.
The duties on the seized cooking oil were estimated at GH₵1.9 million.
Around the same period, GRA enforcement teams at the Aflao frontier intercepted several trucks suspected of carrying non-custom goods. The consignments—comprising rice, sugar, tomato paste, beverages, textiles and clothing—were similarly found to be misclassified or undervalued.
“Duties on these items totaled GH₵1.7 million. In total, the two operations saved the state GH₵3.6 million in potential revenue losses,” he added.
The Commissioner-General noted that all seized items have been fully confiscated and placed under GRA control pending official disposal to recover the due revenue. He also disclosed that truck owners whose vehicles were used in the scheme will be surcharged.
“The law empowers us to take action against truck owners whose assets facilitated activities that could have caused revenue loss,” he said
He warned that smuggling poses a serious threat to fair competition, job creation and national development.
“If you smuggle and we arrest you, we will confiscate your goods and you will lose your capital to the state, urging businesses to comply with tax rules to safeguard their operations,” he noted.
The Commissioner-General added that a similar operation last month recovered GH₵4.6 million for the state following arrests and confiscations.