Samuel Bogale
Ethiopia is becoming among one of the emerging transit hubs
for smugglers. Of around 156 drug seizures of outgoing drugs in Brazil, 64 were
planned to arrive in or transit through Ethiopia, according to a report
published by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in March this
year.
In response to questions from lawmakers in the House of
Peoples' Representatives (HPR), Customs Commissioner Debele Kabeta said drugs
like cocaine are being smuggled into Ethiopia in large quantities.
"Smugglers are working hard to use Addis Ababa as their
destination and transit point," he said. "These practices at the
airport were never a trend in Ethiopia previously."
Reports show vastly growing smuggling activities in the
country this year compared to previous practices. Last fiscal year, the
Commission confiscated smuggled goods worth 4.5 billion birr, but this grew to
10.2 billion birr a month ahead of the end of current fiscal year.
During the last 11 months, exports and imports of smuggled
goods grew by 163 percent and 254 percent respectively, compared to the same
period of the previous fiscal year.
Specifically at the Commission's branch located inside the
airport, exports by smugglers grew almost 200 percent, while illegal import
increased exceedingly by 726 percent compared to last year.
In light of this fact, Members of Parliament grilled the
Commissioner with questions about the enabling environment and actions to
tackle it.
Debele blamed the nature of international flights and the
growing capacity of smugglers for increased illegal activities, including
smuggling of narcotics and other goods.
"It requires a high level of capacity, big resources,
skills and human capital to control it," Debele said. "We should
learn from developed countries with the capacity and experience to build our
own capabilities in resources and logistics."
Concerned about the blame falling on his office, the
Commissioner called for a thorough investigation into how cocaine weighing as
much as a quintal gets loaded onto aircrafts in countries like Brazil yet
detected in Addis Ababa.
He called for a holistic understanding of the situation and
assistance for better results in disrupting contrabandist networks.
"Whether in exports or imports, contraband through the airport is
challenging us as they use various techniques, networks and behaviors,"
Debele said.