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A residential apartment in Kileleshwa has become the centre of a Kenya Revenue Authority operation after electronic goods worth about Sh13 million were seized. The intelligence-led operation resulted in the recovery of hundreds of devices and accessories suspected to have entered the country without the required taxes and duties.
Hundreds of Electronics Recovered
KRA said its officers recovered 529 electronic items during the operation conducted in Nairobi. The haul consisted of 358 laptops, nine iPads and 162 different accessories.
The authority said the goods are suspected to have been smuggled into Kenya without payment of the applicable taxes and customs duties. The operation forms part of wider enforcement efforts targeting goods believed to have entered the country outside the required procedures.
The latest seizure comes as KRA continues increasing scrutiny of imported electronic products and other goods that may be under-declared or moved into the country without proper customs clearance.
Previous Phone Seizure
KRA recently intercepted another major consignment of electronic goods at Eldoret International Airport. More than 55,000 smartphones had reportedly been declared as only 3,000 devices, while hundreds of high-end phones were also found to have been undeclared.
The authority estimated that the interception prevented a potential tax loss of Sh21.5 million. The case highlighted the scale of revenue that can be lost when imported goods are deliberately under-declared or omitted from customs declarations.
KRA Targets Smuggled Goods
The tax authority has also carried out operations against other forms of illicit trade. In September, officers seized cigarettes, shisha tobacco and powdered milk valued at Sh46.77 million from a passenger bus operating along the Uganda-Kenya route.
The goods had reportedly been concealed in specially created compartments inside the bus to avoid detection. KRA said the seizure protected about Sh29.17 million in government revenue that could have been lost through the illegal movement of the products.
The latest Kileleshwa operation is expected to add to KRA’s continuing enforcement campaign against smuggling, tax evasion and other practices that undermine legitimate businesses and government revenue.
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