The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has confiscated 18 truckloads of transit cargo intercepted in an attempted diversion into the local market and, on the directive of the Ministry of Finance, allocated them to the National School Feeding Programme.

Speaking at a media briefing on the outcome of investigations into the attempted diversion, Mr Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, Commissioner-General of the GRA, said the investigations uncovered widespread documentation fraud, under-declaration of goods, tariff misclassification and possible identity fraud involving the declared consignee.

“As you may recall, in February 2026, we reported the interception of 18 trucks declared as transit cargo from Togo, through the Akanu Border Post, to Niger, amid suspicions that they were being diverted into the local market,” he said.

Mr Sarpong explained that the trucks were intercepted at the Kpone Barrier on the Tema Motorway by a joint team of preventive officers from the Customs Division of the GRA and National Security, prompting a comprehensive investigation led by the Ministry of Finance and the GRA.

He said the investigative committee reviewed reports from the arresting officers, statements from Customs officials, declarants, escort officers, drivers, transit bond issuers and E-Track officials.

The committee also re-examined the cargo at the Tema Transit Terminal, engaged the Nigerien Chamber of Commerce and conducted inspections at the Akanu Border Post and the Togolese Customs station at Noépé.

Mr Sarpong said export documents obtained from the Togolese Customs Administration revealed that the cargo originated from Malaysia and Indonesia, was discharged at the Port of Lomé and was actually destined for two companies in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, rather than Niger as declared at the Ghanaian border.

He said the transit declaration processed at Akanu was not supported by the original bills of lading and export documents but instead relied on an invoice falsely claiming that the goods had been purchased on the open market in Togo.

Mr Sarpong said Customs officers found 39,256 jerrycans of vegetable cooking oil instead of the 35,246 declared, representing an under-declaration of 4,010 units.

“In addition, goods declared as tomato paste were physically identified as tomato-flavoured seasoning, affecting the applicable bond value,” he said.

The investigation also established that the cooking oil had been wrongly classified under a lower-duty Harmonised System code attracting a 20 per cent duty instead of the correct classification, which attracted a 35 per cent duty, thereby significantly understating the bond value and suspended taxes.

Mr Sarpong said further checks with the Nigerien Chamber of Commerce neither verified the Taxpayer Identification Number used for the consignment nor confirmed that the named consignee, Adamou Moumouni, was a registered businessperson in Niger, raising concerns over possible identity fraud.

He disclosed that a review of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) identified 44 previous transit declarations linked to the same consignee over the past two years, several of which were processed without the required bills of lading and exhibited similar irregular exit patterns at the Kulungugu Border Post.

Describing the findings as deeply concerning, Mr Sarpong announced that four Customs officers who handled the consignment had been interdicted and were undergoing internal disciplinary processes.

He assured the trading community and the public that the GRA had intensified compliance measures at Ghana’s borders to strengthen revenue mobilisation and curb illicit trade.