The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has seized 23 smuggled prime movers in Nairobi, suspected to be part of a multi-million shilling tax evasion scheme involving illegal imports, tampered vehicle identities and fraudulent registrations.
The trucks were confiscated in the city’s Industrial Area and were allegedly being reassembled to conceal their origin and evade taxes, said the KRA on Monday in a statement.
Preliminary investigations showed that some of the vehicles had tampered chassis numbers, while others were irregularly imported under the guise of collecting goods before being diverted into the local market.
The taxman said the trucks bore registration plates from multiple African countries, including South Africa, South Sudan, Zambia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania, pointing to a cross-border syndicate.
“The vehicles, believed to have been smuggled into the country and were secretly being re-assembled to hide the countries of origin and given local registrations in a well-deliberated scheme, were confiscated following a tip-off from the public,” said the KRA.
“Chassis numbers in some of the motor vehicles have been tampered with in what is believed to be part of the concealment scheme. Some also entered the country on the pretext of collecting goods.”
Most of the seized vehicles were also found to be above Kenya’s eight-year age limit for imports, the taxman said, rendering them ineligible for entry into the local market under existing regulations.
The latest seizure is part of KRA’s crackdown on illicit vehicle imports as the government seeks to plug revenue losses and tighten oversight in one of the most fraud-prone tax segments.
Fully built trucks attract a 35 percent import duty and an additional 16 percent value-added tax. This means that to bring in a prime mover worth Sh8 million, an importer pays an additional Sh4.53 million in taxes.
The vehicle import sector has long been flagged by the tax authority as a major source of revenue leakage.
Common schemes include declaring vehicles as transit cargo destined for neighbouring countries, such as Uganda, only for them to be offloaded and sold locally, as well as the undervaluation of high-end cars.
The KRA has also previously intercepted luxury vehicles, including Range Rovers and Mercedes-Benz cars, hidden in containers packed with household goods or declared as different items such as mattresses from abroad.
Rogue KRA agents have been caught using false documents to facilitate clearance and avoid transit road tolls.
To curb collusion and bribery within the clearance process, the authority has been deploying body cameras for customs officers, targeting key pressure points such as vehicle valuation and cargo inspection.
