Counterfeit money-making paraphernalia intercepted at Cameroon port

Pirated merchandise are known to also pass through the port

Yemti Harry Ndienla

Customs officials at the port of Cameroon's economic capital of Douala have intercepted a container crammed with material (bundles of banknote printed negatives, liquid resembling mercury and a manual on the fabrication of counterfeit money)strongly suspected to be intended for use in forging banknotes.
The Herald Newspaper reported recently that Gendarmes at the port confirmed they were vigilantly keeping watch over the container imported from Hong Kong by a certain Noubissi Michel,pending the outcome of an ongoing probe.

The customs officials said they decided to undertake an inspection of the suspicious container once it dawned on them that it had skipped a check by the surveillance company, SGS, at its port of departure in Hong Kong . And behold, upon breaking the seals to corroborate their doubts, the customs officer and gendarmes on hand were curiously surprised.

Stuffed in the container were bundles numbering to the tune of fifty, and containing photographic negatives cut to the size of banknotes bearing unmistakable resemblance to the euro and the dollar, according to the prying customs officers. Each package, from rough estimates, held about a thousand banknote-sized papers.

Amongst the banknote-sized-paper containing bundles, were scores of light bulbs containing a yet-to-be identified liquid substance. But the customs officers said they were certain the liquid will turn out to be mercury, a substance described as a vital component in banknotes counterfeiting. Also found in the container were packets of a white substance.

"But what seemed to confirm any lingering doubts was the discovery of manuals, explaining in detailed fashion, all the steps leading to the manufacture of counterfeit euro banknotes", noted the Herald.

Surprisingly,the importer of the container, a certain Noubissi Michel,who prior to the search,reportedly informed the prying gendarmes and customs officials that the container bore non-commercial and personal items was still walking free shortly after the interception of the container.
Preliminary findings, according to the customs staffers, indicated that Noubissi working with alleged accomplices in Hong Kong had succeeded by hook or crook, to have the container avoid any customs checks before its departure and the said container only narrowly missed leaving the port of Douala.
It should be noted here that concerns over the ease with which smuggled goods pass through checks at the port were heightened recently when tons of smuggled cigarettes were seized at a warehouse in Bonaberi (a quarter), Douala . The billion dollar question many are now asking is why is government making noise about huge investments in the acquisition of equipment [like the recent CFA 4 billion scanner)at the port to help quash the phenomenon meanwhile many other pirated goods are known to also pass through the port