Moroccan Customs Report Sharp Decline in Smuggling Activity for 2020

"The strengthening of controls at the level of storage depots is giving encouraging results". This is what can be understood from the 2020 report of the ADII. The various factors of this performance have been presented. According to the report, the interventions of the National Customs Brigade (BND), carried out on the road axes and in warehouses, resulted in the seizure of goods worth 70.1 MDH. Similarly, the penetration rate of smuggled cigarettes on the national market in 2020 is 1.37%, compared to 5.23% in 2019.

The report informs that currency trafficking and money laundering recorded 3,491 currency declarations registered at the various border offices, compared to 10,056 declarations in 2019, for a total amount in foreign currency equivalent to 532 MDH.

A similar decline in smuggling and counterfeiting where 939,000 articles were seized. Also, it is learned that 56 tons of smuggled plastic bags, 21 plastic bag production machines and 6,500 kg of granules were seized.

Thus, since the entry into force of law 77-15, the quantity of seizures made by Customs has reached 263.2 tons. In addition, according to the ADII, the searches carried out during this year made it possible to dismantle several clandestine production units.

Several other actions, namely the closure of the border posts of Bab Sebta and Bab Mellilia in the eastern and northwestern regions and the awareness-raising and training meetings, have enabled integration and conversion to the formal sector, explains the ADII.