GRA, National Security Bust GH¢2.3m Diesel Diversion Syndicate
The Customs Preventive Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), in collaboration with the National Security Secretariat, has dismantled a diesel diversion syndicate attempting to evade customs taxes amounting to approximately GH¢2.3 million.
Intelligence gathered by the joint team indicates that the illegal operation — involving the diversion of petroleum products meant for export — has been a recurring scheme over time, causing significant revenue losses to the state.
In recent months, the GRA, working closely with National Security, has intensified operations targeting Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and transporters engaged in tax evasion through petroleum product diversions.
The latest operation led to the interception of 10 trucks loaded with about 540,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), commonly known as diesel. The trucks were impounded after officers discovered that the exporters had disengaged the tracking devices installed on the tankers shortly after loading, and diverted the products under the cover of darkness.
“Based on intelligence, the team followed the trucks to the port as they were suspected to be export goods. However, upon arrival, it was discovered that no vessel had been designated to receive the product,” said Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, addressing journalists in Accra.
He explained that the tankers, instead of completing the export clearance process, exited the port around 3:00 a.m. and were later traced to the Kpone enclave, where they were intercepted by the joint GRA-National Security taskforce.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the state would have lost approximately GH¢2.3 million in taxes and levies had the operation not been foiled. The trucks have since been impounded, and a forensic audit into the activities of the implicated OMCs has been commissioned.
“The Authority will not tolerate any act that seeks to defraud the state or undermine the integrity of our petroleum export regime,” Mr Sarpong warned, stressing that individuals and companies found culpable will face the full force of the law.
He added that the GRA is intensifying monitoring, enforcement, and intelligence coordination with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and National Security to ensure strict compliance with export and tax procedures.
Under the government’s renewed agenda to restore integrity to the country’s revenue systems, Mr Sarpong reaffirmed the GRA’s commitment to dismantling illegal petroleum networks that undermine national revenue mobilisation and economic recovery.
