A persistent issue in many parts of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Customs Commission is partnering with Spotlight Communication and Marketing to look at the impact and end contraband to end illegal trade within the eastern part of  Ethiopia where the issue has had more impact.

The account of expanding contraband activities in various boarder areas of the country, the  amount of gold produced by artisanal miners in various regional states and being channeled to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) keeps dwindling, The Reporter has learnt.

A local entrepreneur, NazrawitAbera is in the custody of the Government of China accused of trafficking cocaine and is expected to be charged with an offence whose likely outcome is expected to be execution.

The recently established customs law enforcement entity, theFederal Custom Commission, has   sent around 1,410 new recruitsto the Federal Police to receive trainings before their deployment to all custom stations across the nation, The Reporter has learnt.

MPs demand the identities of the so-called ‘Contrabandists’ The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) revealed that, the likes of tax evasion, fraud and the recently growing role of contrabandists continue to hamper progress of revenue collection of the country.