By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

FINANCIAL Secretary Simon Wilson said officials have found illegally smuggled alcohol in containers with building supplies.

He elaborated on how people smuggle alcohol and tobacco in the country after Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said on Wednesday that nearly $100m is lost yearly through illegal smuggling of these items.

“One, they are hidden in containers, large-scale smuggling, so you might have a container and have it as a building material,” Mr Wilson said yesterday during the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly press briefing.

“We caught one where there were building materials, and there were twelve pallets of beer. They only cleared the building materials. Most building materials are duty-free, and beer is at, like, 40 per cent.”

“The other way, especially for tobacco, is that they are putting it in luggage. You know tobacco is 230 per cent duty, a minimum. So, tobacco is a very high-duty product, and so these people put it in luggage and so forth and just bring it in.”

Mr Wilson said the government has a plan to compensate for the losses, which he said impacts legitimate businesses.

“We have realised that legitimate importers of alcohol and tobacco saw a consistent decline in their sales,” he said. “So, we recouped by discouraging persons from smuggling, and then people will purchase from legitimate importers and distributors who pay their taxes.”

“Two months ago, we came across a warehouse where we retrieved over a million dollars in cash and goods.”