— GRA seizes in excess of $20M in illegal liquor and cigarettes

RICHIE Shaw of Lot 22 Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara (Padrak Poultry Depot), was on Thursday ordered to pay a fine in the amount of $4,950,000 or face one-year imprisonment in default of payment for knowingly concealing uncustomed chicken.

Shaw, according to a release, knowingly concealed uncustomed chicken contrary to section 218 (c) of the Customs Act, Chapter 82:01. The release from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) also pointed out that the fine imposed is three times the value of the goods seized.

The said defendant, the release noted on that day, removed the smuggled chicken from its original ‘Rockingham’ packages and concealed same in black bags to evade and deceive law enforcement officers by ‘passing same off as local chicken.’

The GRA, however, with the assistance of the experts from the Veterinary Public Health Unit of the Ministry of Health, managed to prove the contrary to the court, which led to the said conviction.
In a separate and ongoing matter, officers attached to the authority’s Law Enforcement and Investigations Division (LEID), on September 22, 2022, seized in excess of 82 cases of smuggled liquor and over 62 bales of cigarettes from a property at Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara, valued in excess of $20,000,000. Investigations are ongoing.

“The Revenue Authority, as it continues with a ‘zero tolerance’ approach against smuggling and other illegal activities, thereby allowing for a ‘level playing field’ for legitimate businesses and the collection of revenue, once again, encourages persons involved in such activities to cease and desist therefrom, and bring themselves into compliance with the nation’s tax, trade and border laws,” the release said.