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Ethiopia’s struggle with deteriorating security situation in different parts of the country has been making news since prime minister Abiy Ahmed took over office in April 2018.
With that, there has been an increasing crime rate involving trade in illicit arms and illegal circulation of hard currencies like the US dollar and Euro.
What has been making news recently, however, news of arrests of people involved in those illegal practices.
On Tuesday, the Ethiopian Federal Police said it had seized $448,550 cash. The Ethiopian News Agency cited a police press release to report that the cash was seized from a lorry truck carrying beer from Debre Berhan heading to Harar, the eastern part of the country, via Addis Ababa.
It was seized at Kaliti custom check out, in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. According to police, the cash was stashed in beer crates that the truck was carrying.
Furthermore, the Federal police said that it was watching the development closely after receiving tips from the community.
The driver, whose identity is unspecified, is reportedly in custody, and police are undertaking further investigation.
Police believe that the Tigray People’s Liberation Front related criminal network has been engaged in buying hard currency at a very high rate as part of economic sabotage to worsen chronic shortages of hard currencies in Ethiopia.
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Kudos to those who caught this heist. But this can be just a tip of the iceberg. Contraband either in consumer goods or illegal circulation of currency has been an addiction in almost every country that could not be eradicated. The late Emperor had a well organized ant contraband unit in place that included well armed paramilitary. I remember when I was a young boy when those anti contraband units marching towards their target thru our village. I remember one of the officers talking to my father and uncle to get price information about the location of their target. But it was hide and seek game for them. Sometimes they were successful and other times they came back empty handed. Many times they exchanged serious gunfire with the traffickers turning deadly for both sides. It is a never ending battle that is getting bigger, global and very sophisticated.
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