(Business in Cameroon) - On the night of April 20 to 21, 2021, agents of the Idenau Customs Commercial Brigade, Southwest Cameroon, seized an important quantity of medical products smuggled to the country from Nigeria, sources close to the case informs.

Consisting of more than 30,000 HIV and syphilis test kits, and many other products, the shipment had no import documents and was hidden in a boat carrying people and goods, according to customs sources.

According to officials and economic operators, the porous 1,500 km border between Cameroon and Nigeria has facilitated the development of an intense smuggling activity between the two countries, in the three northern regions, the northwest and southwest regions notably. Coupled with illicit trade, this phenomenon causes about XAF200 billion of revenue shortfall for Cameroon (companies and the state) every year, per official estimates.

BRM