Damascus-Sana
The number of cases investigated by the Anti-Smuggling Directorate in the General Customs Directorate during the past year reached 430 smuggling cases, the fines of which were estimated at 35 billion Syrian pounds, of which more than 9 billion pounds were collected, while the value of un-collected fines amounted to about 26 billion pounds for the cases that were transferred To the customs court.
In a statement obtained by SANA, the directorate confirmed that the goods confiscated in the smuggling cases last year included "clothing, shoes, food, medical and cosmetic preparations, medicines, narcotic substances, alcoholic beverages, forged tourist cars that entered illegally, diesel, tropical fruits, electrical appliances and gold jewelry."
During the year 2020, the Anti-Smuggling Directorate continued to intensify its activities and patrols to control and confiscate smugglers in local markets, warehouses and establishments and to protect the national economy from the phenomenon of smuggling that drains foreign currency, while about a week ago, two smuggling cases worth 22 million and 7 million Syrian pounds were investigated in commercial stores in a commercial complex in Damascus, which included “Smuggled clothes” of foreign origin “Turkish Chinese Bangladeshi Thai”.
Last month, the Directorate was able to investigate more than 30 cases in the city of Aleppo as part of a campaign to investigate smuggled goods that included shops, warehouses and commercial companies. The goods included “gold jewelry of Italian and Emirati origin and others without stamps, foodstuffs, Turkish clothes, fabrics, nuts, mobile devices and tablets” and exceeded Fines for these cases are one billion Syrian pounds.
For his part, Lieutenant Colonel Badi 'Aqil, Chief of the Damascus Car Police Officer revealed in a statement to the SANA representative that 5 smuggling cases had been seized since the beginning of this year, the fines of which amounted to more than 94 million Syrian pounds, and the confiscated goods of foreign origin included “wooden panels coated with formica, shoes, fabrics, accessories and sanitary tools.”
Aqil pointed out that the Damascus Car Control Officer was able to seize 6 smuggling cases at the end of last year, whose fines exceeded 242 million Syrian pounds, stressing that the officer recently intensified its campaigns to combat smuggled materials and goods on the main roads and customs axes in order to protect the public health and safety of citizens and support the national economy and local products.
Wasim Al-Adawi