The Ho Sector of the Ghana Revenue Authority Customs Division has destroyed close to 500 illegal electricity meters.
The meters, which entered the country from Togo, were intercepted by the authorities at various entry points in the Volta Region, including the Batume Junction, the Kpetoe patrol base, and the Shia border upon tip offs.
Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Felicia Azumah, the Sector Commander, briefing the media over the exercise, said the meters were imported outside regulatory regimes, and had been marked for destruction following the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) declaration as unfit for use.
The meters included postpaid, prepaid, and smart devices from various brands and manufacturers, and were destroyed alongside thousands of packets of varying aphrodisiacs and other drugs whose importation lacked requisite permits.
Also destroyed were more than a hundred parcels of cannabis, and several boxes of both local and foreign drinks found to be either fake or illegally imported.
Several used refrigerators brought into the country despite the ban on such, were also destroyed.
The items underwent a rigorous destruction exercise led by the Municipal Environmental Health Office, and under the watch of various stakeholders, including the security agencies, Food and Drugs Authority, officials of the ECG, and the media.
The Sector Commander said some goods had been detained for the past two and a half years awaiting proper documentation, which never materialised.
Madam Azumah commended the vigilance of the officers whose efforts helped remove illegal goods from the system, thus averting financial losses to the state.
She advised importers and the public to check with the authorities for necessary regulations before bringing goods into the country, adding “let’s import genuinely so that we all can benefit.” —GNA
