L'opération de l'Unité Mobile d' Intervention Rapide (UMIR) conducted outside the port of Abidjan, led to the seizure of six suspected containers. A total of 84,822

A company authorized to export rubber, a company under the guise of legality, was hiding its real business, that of the fraudulent export of cocoa, according to the information. The company would have succeeded in evading considerable customs taxes by declaring shipments of natural rubber instead of cocoa beans. The Single Exit Duty (DUS), normally set at 14.6% for cocoa beans, would have been avoided discreetly, taking advantage of the much lower tax of 1.5% for rubber. Indeed, the six suspected containers opened at the UMIR base in Yopougon Gesco contain 1266 bags of cocoa beans with a total weight of 84,822 tons, turning the case into one of the biggest recent customs scandals. Two individuals have been taken into custody, the exact amount of harm suffered by the public treasury remains to be assessed, and the fraud may well be wider than it seems.