Impounded cars released from Mombasa port
Saturday March 12 2022
Second-hand cars being offloaded at the port of Mombasa. PHOTO | FILE
Clearance of hundreds of second-hand imported vehicles that were being held at the port of Mombasa due to disputed debt and unverified documentation has begun.
A month ago, authorities launched investigations into a possible car smuggling racket targeting the East Africa region, which led to the holding of the vehicles headed for Uganda, South Sudan and Rwanda.
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) had detained vehicles imported by Unifreight logistics, a Uganda car-importing freight station, over undisclosed debt and some importation documents.
On Thursday, Unifreight management confirmed to The EastAfrican that the matter has been resolved and the vehicles cleared.
KPA acting managing director John Mwangemi had earlier said they were holding the vehicles without disclosing the reasons.
“KPA is working with Unifreight CFS to resolve this long outstanding matter. And we expect to conclude in the coming days,” Mr John Mwangemi said.
According to sources at the port, some of the vehicles were being detained after it emerged they were intended to be sold in the Kenyan market in a car smuggling racket, instead of transiting to neighbouring countries.
Car smuggling
Two years ago, Customs officers in Mombasa received intelligence reports that two 20-foot containers on board a ship sailing to the port of Mombasa contained stolen motor vehicles from the UK.
The containers arrived at the port of Mombasa on May 11, 2019 aboard MV MSC Positano from Oman and had not been declared.
Authorities subjected the two containers to x-ray scanning and images revealed the presence of top of the range motor vehicles.
According to import documents, the Range Rover Sport cars, which were the subject of an international motor vehicle crime and smuggling investigation, were on transit to Uganda.
The UK has been a top source for stolen vehicles, which are either shipped directly or transited through other countries in the Middle East to the East African markets through the port of Mombasa.
Car smuggling has been partly blamed for an increase in used car prices in Kenya, which have jumped by an average of 37 percent over the past six months as demand outstrips supply globally on production cuts.