Rice, cement, gas smuggle to Guinea

A NewDawn’s investigation has uncovered smuggling of basic commodities from Liberia to neighbouring Guinea thru the Ganta main border in Nimba County. Items being smuggled include gas, rice and cement, among other products.

The Government of Liberia has restricted sale of these commodities into the country with punitive measures put in place for violators.  The NewDawn Nimba correspondent said as a result of the smuggling, prices of these commodities have increased in the commercial district, posing strain on consumers.

Several Guinean vehicles are seen daily leaving the Liberian side of the border with goods into Guinea. The exercise is being carried out in cohort with shops in Ganta that are involved in the sale of rice, cement and other commodities, including a sub-office of CEMENCO, a cement manufacturing company in Monrovia.

When contacted, a branch manager for the company in Ganta, who is a foreign expatriate only identified as Sam, confirmed the smuggling, but stressed that CEMENCO is here to sell its product. Meanwhile, several drums of petroleum products arrested by Liberian Joint Security at the Ganta border, reportedly disappeared from the warehouse in which they were being stored.

Joint Security assigned at the border reportedly arrested the products aboard a Guinean truck, leaving here for Guinea. Editing by Jonathan Browne