MRA confiscates drugs hidden in bag at Chileka Airport

The Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) on Wednesday, 7th June 2016, seized a bag containing drugs suspected to be Ephedrine powder at Chileka International Airport. The drugs were concealed in eleven boards which had snakes and ladders, chess and dart games inscribed on them in order to beat the checking system.

The bag is suspected to be belonging to who is currently at large. Maniya is believed to have alighted from an Ethiopian Airlines on 28th May 2016 and left the bag unattended at the airport.

Seeing that the bag was unattended to on this day, our officers picked the bag and stored it in the Lost and Found warehouse waiting for the owner to claim it.

After two weeks of waiting, our officers then opened the bag today in the presence of the Police specialized in drugs and found out that the bag contained Ephedrine.

Meanwhile, the bag will be handed over to the Police for further investigations.

Apart from revenue collection, MRA has a key role in counteracting tax fraud and other forms of fiscal evasion and protecting citizens from dangerous and harmful goods and substances imported into the country.

MRA is, therefore, appealing to the general public to report anybody who is smuggling or being involved in any form of tax evasion by dialing our Deloitte Tip Offs Anonymous Service toll free number 847 for Airtel, TNM and ACCESS subscribers and for MTL dial 80000847.