HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Baraka
Elements of the National Customs Brigade, in coordination with regional teams belonging to the same body, have launched a secret sweeping campaign to search for warehouses storing smuggled food in a number of major cities, including Greater Agadir, Marrakech, Casablanca, Salé, Kenitra and Tangier, in preparation for the month of Ramadan.
The campaign comes after monitoring suspicious movements of networks that exploited forged invoices to conceal the source of goods unfit for consumption, with the aim of evading legal control. Initial investigations confirmed that these networks are exploiting the high demand wave before Ramadan to dispose of large quantities of smuggled food, which includes meat, fish, cheese and others. Customs teams focused on scrutinizing invoice documents and the legality of the companies issuing them, in cooperation with the tax authorities, with the aim of thwarting organized smuggling networks operating from secret warehouses in the suburbs and popular neighborhoods. These operations come within the framework of strengthening the monitoring of the quality of food and protecting consumers, in coordination with the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, as well as cooperation with the competent international bodies, in a step aimed at reducing the circulation of goods that do not meet health standards before the peak of Ramadan consumption.
