The Tunisian customs service has a number of national responsibilities, including controlling the movement of goods and capital both within the country and across its borders, as well as controlling the illegal export of works of art and antiques at ports and airports.
In recent years, they have been constantly taking measures to curb the scourge of corruption. It is true, however, that citizens have a tendency to extrapolate and prejudge.
With this in mind, Colonel Major Chokri Jebri, spokesman for the General Directorate of Customs and Head of the Operations Sub-Directorate at the Directorate of Customs Guard, spoke to AfricanManager in an exclusive interview about the many successes of the customs units. Interview:
What were the main seizures made by the Tunisian customs in 2024?
In 2024, smuggled goods worth an estimated 513 million dinars were seized by the Customs Guard units by the end of November 2024.
More than 14400 official reports were issued. In addition, Customs Guard units carried out more than 2100 checks on means of transport, companies, commercial premises, markets and illegal warehouses containing goods of unknown origin or smuggled goods.
Among the goods seized were clothing and footwear, electronic equipment, petrol and foodstuffs.
These successes demonstrate the great work carried out by the customs services in protecting the economy, so much so that not a day goes by without news of a seizure of smuggled goods.
What about cocaine and narcotics seizures?
Customs services at border posts and Customs Guard units have also seized more than 33 kilos of cocaine, more than 250 kilos of cannabis and more than 1.142 million narcotic pills of all kinds.
We are working hard to combat the various smuggling operations throughout the Republic.
After the revolution, the phenomenon of drug use increased and criminals multiplied, but we have all the means and logistics to protect citizens and seize drugs.
Are there international drug trafficking networks in Tunisia?
Of course there are. The Tunisian judiciary and the various customs security units are making a commendable effort to dismantle these international networks… We’re always on the lookout for criminals.
Is there still arms smuggling in the country?
Fortunately, there is no arms smuggling… We recently seized 83 hunting rifles at the port of La Goulette.
Is there an increase or decrease in violent acts committed by smugglers against customs officers?
At the moment, I don’t have any recent statistics on violence against customs officers, but the phenomenon does exist, even in different sectors.
All our units work very hard and have to deal with all kinds of violence (…).
The various problems and threats are always present, especially in the fight against smuggling.
I want to make it clear that there is physical and moral violence, but we are ready to deal with it and protect the country from any excesses.
What is the new customs system “SINDA2”?
The new SINDA 2 customs information system is an ambitious project aimed at modernizing and radically transforming customs procedures in Tunisia.
The project is based on the acquisition, installation and operation of a new IT system using modern technologies to improve the efficiency of customs services and meet the expectations of economic operators in terms of simplicity, speed and transparency.
The project is part of the GovTech program, the digital transformation program for public services, overseen by the Ministry of Communication Technologies.
