Cameroonian customs officials from the Active Group of the South-West region seized eight trucks loaded with cocoa beans on the night of June 18-19, 2023. The cocoa was being smuggled to Nigeria. The exact quantity seized will be known after the trucks are unloaded, officials reported.

Achille Kandem, who heads the group behind the seizure, said the trucks were seized in the towns of Mamfé, Ekok, and Besong Abang.

“I would like to take this opportunity to commend the synergy between customs and the defense and security forces, particularly the police, gendarmerie, and Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR). I also salute the courage of all these men who did not hesitate to venture into the forest at night, in this insecure area, to track down the fraudsters,” he added.

A few days before the seizure, Cameroon officially suspended the export of its cocoa to Nigeria- A decision made by the Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, after a crisis meeting held on June 13, 2023, in Yaoundé. This meeting was in response to concerns voiced by local cocoa actors about the increased smuggling of Cameroonian cocoa to Nigeria.

In a circular note dated June 13, 2023, and addressed to administrative authorities in cocoa-planting zones, Minister Atangana wrote: “It was noted that for the 2022-2023 cocoa campaign, the volume of fraudulent exports, mainly to Nigeria, has reached unprecedented levels, between 30,000 and 60,000 tons, which represents 10% to 20% of national cocoa production, and costs the public treasury about CFA10 billion, in terms of exit rights and export royalties, and a net loss of about CFA60 billion in terms of repatriation of foreign exchange.”

Source: Business in Cameroon