Moroccan Customs Revenue Soars as Border Closures Curb Smuggling in Ceuta and Melilla

The customs administration states in its 2021 activity report that the closure of the borders of Ceuta and Melilla due to smuggling had a positive effect on its revenue. These amounted to 4 billion dirhams.

However, the strengthening of customs controls and the tightening of sanctions against fraudsters did not prevent some smugglers from repeating the offense, the same source points out.

Thus, the customs services were able to seize considerable quantities of smuggled goods (fabrics, clothing, sports shoes, hardware, electronic equipment, food products, Covid-19 test units, etc.) valued at 152 million dirhams (MDH) against 242 MDH in 2020.

For its part, the National Customs Brigade (BND) carried out 30 targeted and targeted interventions on the various fraud channels (road axes, goods storage depots, clandestine production units, etc.).