Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers have confiscated 529 electronic items worth about Ksh13 million from an apartment in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, in a crackdown on suspected smuggling and tax evasion. The goods were found in a residential unit that was allegedly being used to store and sell merchandise.
Officers acted on intelligence. According to the authority, a foreign national was suspected of running an unlicensed electronics business from the premises, moving and keeping goods without meeting customs and tax rules.
The haul includes 358 laptops of different models, nine iPads and 162 accessories. Of the accessories, 150 are Bluetooth devices, while six are laptop chargers and six are laptop batteries.
KRA believes the items were brought into the country illegally, with the required taxes and duties left unpaid. Verification is still under way, and officers are working out how much the goods should have attracted in customs and tax charges.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to trace where the items came from and how they entered Kenya. They also want to know whether other people or businesses played a part. KRA said it will act on whatever the findings show, within the law.
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The seizure forms part of a wider push to choke illicit trade, safeguard public revenue and make businesses comply. Beyond this case, the authority voiced concern over a growing habit of turning homes into storerooms. It said some operators of small shops in the Nairobi city centre may be keeping suspected contraband in residential apartments, away from the usual checks.
In its view, the practice drains government revenue and tilts the field against honest traders who pay their taxes and duties. As a result, it plans to keep relying on intelligence to track down and dismantle networks that hide, move and sell goods that bypassed customs.
KRA asked traders and the public to report suspected smuggling, tax evasion and other illegal trade through its channels, including the iWhistle platform. It added that its enforcement work is meant to protect legitimate trade and the integrity of Kenya’s revenue system.
By Benedict Aoya
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