Mozambique: 1,750 boxes of hookah seized- Watch

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Mozambique: 1,750 boxes of hookah seized- Watch

2:08 CAT | 19 Apr 2023

Photo: Noticias

The Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) seized 1,750 boxes of hookah (water pipe) tobacco (also known as shisha or narghile) in the port of Maputo on Monday.

The seized product, valued at eight million meticais, was being transported in a 40-foot container from the United Arab Emirates, having been declared by the owners as molasses in transit to the Republic of Zambia.

AT spokesman Fernando Tinga told the press on Tuesday that the cargo was discovered by the customs authorities during a routine inspection, and that its successful concealment would have cost the state more than 12 million meticais in lost customs duties.

Tinga also noted that customs authorities suspected that the goods would not reach Zambia since the transit route declared by the owners included also passage through South Africa and Zimbabwe. “We therefore suspect that the cargo would be unloaded in a warehouse somewhere and sold within the country [Mozambique],” Tinga observed.

“It is clear that it is a fraudulent scheme used by importers to introduce goods into the country without paying customs duties, declaring cargo as in transit but later unloading and selling it within the country,” he said.

Asked about the danger posed by the circulation, sale and consumption of hookah tobacco, Tinga admitted that Mozambique does not have any legal instrument which criminalises the consumption of this type of tobacco.