AUTHORITIES in Côte d’Ivoire have uncovered a major cocoa smuggling operation, seizing about 2,000 metric tonnes of falsely declared cocoa beans worth $19 million at the Port of Abidjan. The fraud was part of an elaborate scheme to evade high cocoa export taxes by mislabelling the shipment as rubber, customs and judicial sources confirmed on Tuesday.
Massive cocoa seizure at Abidjan port
Customs officials made the discovery last week when an exporter attempted to pass off 110 containers of cocoa as rubber to significantly reduce tax obligations. Cocoa, a key ingredient in chocolate and the backbone of Côte d’Ivoire’s economy, is often smuggled across the western borders into Guinea and Liberia, where traffickers offer prices higher than the country’s regulated farm-gate rate.
However, this latest case involved fraud at a larger, commercial level, with tax evasion at the heart of the scheme. ‘To my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve made such a seizure. Two thousand tonnes—around 15 million pounds—is a huge amount,’ a customs officer involved in the operation told Reuters.
A tax evasion scheme uncovered
Exporting cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire carries a 19.5 percent tax burden, including a 14.5 percent cocoa export tax and a 5 percent registration fee. On this shipment alone, authorities estimate the country would have collected £2.9 million in taxes. In contrast, rubber exports are taxed at just 1.5 percent, allowing fraudsters to evade significant duties.
A judicial source close to the investigation indicated that systemic corruption played a role in enabling the fraud. ‘This was possible due to high-level corruption within various departments,’ the source revealed. While no officials have been named, the investigation is ongoing.
Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s leading cocoa producer, has long battled smuggling networks and fraudulent activities in the cocoa trade. However, seizures of this scale are rare. Officials are now working to determine whether this was an isolated case or part of a larger, organised smuggling network.
A prosecutor involved in the case remained tight-lipped about ongoing investigations, stating, ‘We seized this case … and we are still investigating. We can’t say anything at the moment.’
This latest crackdown highlights the challenges Côte d’Ivoire faces in curbing tax fraud, tackling corruption, and ensuring fair trade practices in its cocoa industry. With global demand for chocolate rising, authorities may need to step up enforcement to protect one of the country’s most valuable exports.
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