Ctg custom's anti-smuggling drive falters with no patrol boats

Chattogram Custom House's anti-smuggling drive has been irregular as it does not own any functioning patrol boat, causing an increased risk of the smuggling of illegal goods as well as loss of revenue.

The two high-capacity patrol boats, which have been out of order for over a decade, were officially decommissioned by the customs house four months ago. The customs authorities, which took no initiative all these years to procure new boats, have now moved to auction off the two scrapped boats.  

Customs officials say when they are tipped off on possible smuggling, they hire a speedboat or a tugboat to conduct an operation. They also supervise the outer anchorage of the port with tugboats under the management of shipping agents.

The Committee on Obsolete Vehicles and Office Equipment under the Internal Resources Department of the Ministry of Finance on 25 July decommissioned the two patrol boats –Sophen and Samikka. Tenders were invited on 22 November to auction the two boats. So far, 20 companies have participated in the auction and their evaluation is now underway.

The boats were purchased for the Customs House's Rummage Division and F Division, which are responsible for monitoring smuggling activities through ships arriving at Chattogram port, at a cost of Tk2.86 crore in 1985. The boats went out of order in 2011 and Tk5 crore has been spent in fiscal year 2014-201 to fix them but to no avail.

Due to irregular drives, fears of smuggling have been on the rise. On 26 July last year, RAB arrested two persons with 2,075 liters of stolen fuel from the airport road outpost of Patenga police. RAB said they are part of a gang that collects diesel, octane and other fuels from foreign ships anchored outside Chattogram port to illegally sell them by evading duty.

On 24 February, the Naval Police recovered 11,000 liters of crude edible oil from a vessel named 'MV Tanisha' at the Char area of north Laldia under Patenga police station. The smuggled oil sold at low prices in various markets, including Khatunganj. On 23 August, 2021, the Coast Guard East Zone seized 13,000 liters of oil from the same ship at the mouth of the Karnaphuli River.

On 11 November, the Coast Guard seized a speedboat with six people who were smuggling food, gas cylinders and mobile SIM cards in exchange for dollars by evading customs duties in a foreign ship named MV Bao Yu, which was stationed at the outer anchorage of Chattogram port. Foreign currency worth about Tk1.5 lakh taka, 640 liters of diesel, 1,000 foreign cigarettes and 7 mobile sets were recovered.

Mohiuddin Patwary, assistant commissioner in charge of Rummage and F Division of Chattogram Customs House, admitted that regular anti-smuggling operations were disrupted due to a lack of boats owned by customs.

"If we had our own boats, we could have strengthened our anti-smuggling drives and conducted operations when needed," he said.

About the auction of the decommissioned boats, Mohammad Mahfuz Alam, deputy commissioner (spokesperson) of Chattogram Custom House, told The Business Standard, "Once these are sold, a budget for a new boat will be prepared. It will be bought after approval from the authorities."