GRA seizes over 800 boxes of smuggled chicken and alcohol

Enforcement Officers attached to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) early Tuesday morning busted over 800 boxes of smuggled chicken and a quantity of alcohol at Abary Creek, East Coast Demerara.

Head of the Enforcement Unit at GRA Jason Moore confirmed the seizure of the smuggled items to the News Room but could not immediately provide information on the number of items seized.

But the News Room was informed by a source that it was over 800 boxes of foreign chicken, the alcohol and boxes of mosquito coil.

The items are believed to have been illegally smuggled into Guyana from Suriname.

The items, which were found hidden in a clump of bushes and covered with a tarpaulin, have since been transported to a GRA bond at Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

“That’s how the smugglers hide it and, in the night, or when officers not on the road they will go get it and bring it for the market,” the source told the News Room.

While the GRA is being praised for its efforts, persons are concerned that this practice of smuggling and poor storage is not isolated and poses a serious risk to public health.

“That’s why is it not so safe for consumption as these chicken is already soft and it freezes back to be marketed,” the News Room was told.