The National Customs Directorate (DNA) has seized a total of 451,769,608 pesos so far this year until September, not including the seizure of drugs at the borders of Uruguay but only the smuggling of different types of products and goods.
He smuggling It is one of the main concerns in the area of border, a historical problem that accompanies the price gap structural with Argentina, but which is aggravated by the exchange difference with the neighboring country. In this sense, products for daily or habitual use are among the most trafficked into the country.
If the confiscations are considered in terms of quantity, of the total of 57,172 assets seized, 18,499 were groceries, occupying first place and representing 32%. The cosmetics and cleaning products —the item that has the greatest price difference with Argentina— constituted second place, with 15,556 confiscated products. They are followed by Clothing (7,109), Beverages (4,828), Household Items (3,532), Spare Parts (1,156), Medicines (780), Footwear (676), and Vehicles (495).
In terms of value, the 2022 closed with almost 900 million pesos, so, with only one quarter left in 2023, just over half of it has been seized. Of this total, vehicles represent the largest proportion, with a value of 126,958,952 pesos —something logical considering that they are much more expensive goods than groceries or clothing.
During the first 20 days of October, new seizures were carried out that amounted to almost 15 million pesos to the total presented until September.
Smuggling, a border problem
He smuggling remains one of the problems why residents of the border departments they complain more, as it directly harms the economic activity of the businesses in the area due to the entry of cheaper products and the unfair competition that this generates.
In this sense, in recent weeks several cases of seized shipments have been detected that reached millionaire figures. One of them occurred last Wednesday, when they had to be chased for several kilometers in Rivera to a van that was mainly transporting cigarettes of Paraguayan origin with a value of 1.5 million pesos.
Likewise, a week ago, in the operation Galapagos, an organization dedicated to the resale of smuggled products from Argentina and Brazil. After several raids, 3,443 objects valued at 1.1 million pesos were seized.
One of the largest seizures that occurred recently was at the beginning of September, when they found a truck with various merchandise that could reach 300,000 dollars – almost 12 million pesos -, consisting of cigarettes, clothing and personal hygiene products.
These cases top a long list of smuggling attempts that led to the president Luis Lacalle Pou told the press, during a recent visit to Black river, that for these days “control is going to be more intensive.” It will mainly be done in the border with Argentinaa country to which thousands of Uruguayans are traveling for the “long weekend.”
“People can get supplies calmly, what cannot happen, what is happening, is that there are people who are smuggling,” said the president when consulted by the Uruguayans who decide to cross the border to benefit from the exchange difference in Argentina.
Source: Ambito
