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Zanzibar Anti-Smuggling Unit Seizes 400 Bags of Cloves
Zanzibar anti-smuggling unit at the weekend confiscated more than 400 bags of cloves and arrested 39 people who attempted to smuggle them out of the country, the official Daily News reported on Monday.
According to the report, the operation, which was carried out on Saturday afternoon, is the biggest haul in the drive against clove smuggling this season.
The smugglers were apprehended from two engine-propelled boats by the unit just before entering the waters of neighboring Kenya.
The anti-smuggling officials spotted the smugglers when patrolling the sea and managed to catch up with the speeding boats after firing several warning shots.
The suspects will be handed over to the police for interrogation and prosecution. According to Zanzibar laws, clove smuggling carries a maximum sentence of 11 years jail.
The anti-smuggling unit was reported to have intercepted thousands of bags of contraband clove this year.
The Zanzibar State Trading Corporation is the sole authorized buyers of the crop. But smugglers are lured by higher prices offered by illegal middlemen.
Cloves is one of the major cash crops of Zanzibar. It provides about 80 percent of the islands' foreign exchange earnings.
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