Three articulated trucks, 478 drums and one description that did not match the cargo: the Zambia Revenue Authority says its Mobile Enforcement Unit has intercepted 119,500 litres of ethanol that had been declared as paraffin, averting a potential loss of about K5.8 million in revenue, News Diggers and Zambia Monitor reported on Tuesday 3 November.
The consignment had been entered at the Chirundu One Stop Border Post on the Zimbabwe frontier. It was at the Kafue checkpoint, on the road to Lusaka, that officers questioned the description of the goods. A physical inspection raised the first doubt, the authority's corporate communications manager, Oliver Nzala, said: the liquid had a spirit-like smell inconsistent with paraffin. The trucks were impounded and escorted to the Makeni Enforcement Centre, where samples were taken; laboratory results confirmed ethanol.
Why the description matters
The declared description of imported goods determines their tariff classification and therefore the duties and taxes payable, Nzala said, which is why a false declaration deprives the Treasury of revenue and distorts competition against importers who declare correctly. The K5.8 million is the authority's figure for the revenue that would have been lost on this consignment had the declaration stood.
False declarations are an offence under the Customs and Excise Act, Chapter 322 of the Laws of Zambia, and offenders risk seizure of the goods and prosecution, Nzala said. He urged importers and clearing agents to make sure their declarations match the goods and the supporting documents, advised anyone uncertain of a classification to seek clarification from the authority before declaring, and asked the public to report suspected smuggling to the nearest ZRA office.
Neither report names the importer or the clearing agent, and neither says whether anyone has been charged. The authority's account describes the trucks as impounded and the matter as under its enforcement process; what follows, whether a penalty, forfeiture or a prosecution, has not been reported.
Sources: News Diggers, “ZRA intercepts 119,500 litres of ethanol declared as paraffin” (3 Nov 2026); Zambia Monitor, “Zambia Revenue Authority intercepts 119,500 litres of ethanol falsely declared as paraffin” (3 Nov 2026).